Kamila Stepien, born in a grey and empty city in an industrial region, was inspired by the environment noticing the beauty in the small details.

On her fifteenth birthday, she drove her parents to settle in Paris. This pulsating city enchanted her and led her to buy a camera to capture its atmosphere in images.

Her ambition led her to attend the ESRA International Film School where she learned the art of composition and developed her skills to seek out the perfect photo in every situation. Thanks to the Ecole Supérieure de Réalisation Audiovisuelle she was drawn into the world of cinematography. Later she worked as a director of lighting for the feature film Neiges d’Automne after having participated in several shoots as a camera operator.

It is the cultural program Entrée Libre / France 5 for which she framed reports which allowed her to come into contact with the producer of documentary television, Francois Thalaud, who later produced her first short production: 364 Days.

She took part in the shooting of a series Boulevard du Palais (France 2) as assistant camera, and worked with the correspondent for IRINN, the first national Iranian channel.

Among her travels include Cambodia to shoot her self-produced documentary about the women deminers, Calais to cover the immigrant situation, Tunisia to work on the rights of women and homosexuals, Turkey following the referendum giving more power to Erdogan, Hungary to do work on migrant hunters, Ukraine in the pro zone where access for foreign journalists remains very difficult, Burma and Bangladesh working on the impact of the Rohingya crisis with an english NGO Oxfam.

She continues to explore the world’s social issues with an eye of a journalist and cinematographer.

www.kamilastepienphotographer.com