YANA
tour guide and photographer
Born and raised in Belarus, Yana first came to Berlin at the age of 18, where she got to know the city through the punk scene, squats, and community spaces.This experience shaped her interest in alternative cultures and urban communities.
In 2015, after three years of a successful but boring career in a bank, she left her job and moved to Germany through a cultural exchange program. She spent a year living with a German family with three children and eleven horses—in a trailer in their backyard. This experience gave her a deeper understanding of German culture and mentality.
After completing her Master’s degree in Berlin and trying to build a career in advertising, Yana quickly realized that office work wasn’t for her—she was way more interested in the city, its history, and its cultural life.
She began working with artists, dancers, and musicians and later became a curatorial assistant at the contemporary and street art museum Urban Nation. At the same time, she continued developing her long-time interest in photography, which eventually led to exhibiting her work in galleries, while also guiding cultural city tours—without realizing that it would soon become her main occupation.
Instead of dry facts and dates, Yana focuses on context, details, and human stories. For her, Berlin is a complex and contradictory place that reveals itself to those who are willing to understand it.
In 2015, after three years of a successful but boring career in a bank, she left her job and moved to Germany through a cultural exchange program. She spent a year living with a German family with three children and eleven horses—in a trailer in their backyard. This experience gave her a deeper understanding of German culture and mentality.
After completing her Master’s degree in Berlin and trying to build a career in advertising, Yana quickly realized that office work wasn’t for her—she was way more interested in the city, its history, and its cultural life.
She began working with artists, dancers, and musicians and later became a curatorial assistant at the contemporary and street art museum Urban Nation. At the same time, she continued developing her long-time interest in photography, which eventually led to exhibiting her work in galleries, while also guiding cultural city tours—without realizing that it would soon become her main occupation.
Instead of dry facts and dates, Yana focuses on context, details, and human stories. For her, Berlin is a complex and contradictory place that reveals itself to those who are willing to understand it.
