European cinematic portraiture - Munich
Marina
Mikhova
You will never be this version of yourself again. That is who I photograph.
I do not believe in unphotogenic people. I believe in rushed sessions, poor light and no preparation.
Many women tell me they had never really liked themselves in photographs before.
about.jpg
About
The story,
not the pose
Photography has been with me since school, but for years it stayed alongside a career - more than a decade in international business, from Roland Berger to Danone. My first maternity leave finally gave me the space to study photography properly. I learned from photographers whose work I had admired for years, and eventually it became my profession.
What I brought with me is an understanding of people who are used to controlling how they come across - and how different they look once they stop performing.
That is what I photograph: cinematic light, deliberate framing, and the moment a person becomes less aware of the camera. I give direction when it helps, but never force a pose.
What I love most about photography is the people it brings into my life. Many clients come back over the years - first for a newborn session, later for family portraits or business photographs. Some have even become friends. And often, the part I find most interesting is discovering something in a person they had not expected to see in themselves.
Photographing professionally since 2019. Based in Munich. Exhibited at ImageNation Paris. Mother of two - which taught me almost everything I know about newborns, and about children who have no interest in looking at the camera. Sessions in English and Russian.
Process
Nothing is
left to chance
- 01ConceptMood, location and light.
- 02StylingWe build the wardrobe together.
- 03The sessionUnhurried. Directed, never posed.
Portfolio
Selected work
Emotional portraits are the reason I picked up a camera and the work that took me to Paris.
Complete sessions, exactly as clients receive them: Paris in the rain, Red lips, Mother and daughter, Autumn session.
portrait-01.jpg
portrait-02.jpg
portrait-03.jpg
portrait-04.jpg
portrait-05.jpg
portrait-06.jpg
portrait-07.jpg
portrait-08.jpg
portrait-09.jpg
portrait-10.jpg
portrait-11.jpg
portrait-12.jpg
portrait-13.jpg
portrait-14.jpg
portrait-15.jpg
portrait-16.jpg
portrait-17.jpg
portrait-18.jpg
portrait-19.jpg
portrait-20.jpg
portrait-21.jpg
portrait-22.jpg
portrait-23.jpg
portrait-24.jpg
portrait-25.jpg
portrait-26.jpg
portrait-27.jpg
portrait-28.jpg
portrait-29.jpg
portrait-30.jpg
portrait-31.jpg
portrait-32.jpg
portrait-33.jpg
portrait-34.jpg
portrait-35.jpg
portrait-36.jpg
male-01.jpg
male-02.jpg
male-03.jpg
male-04.jpg
male-05.jpg
couples-01.jpg
couples-02.jpg
couples-03.jpg
couples-04.jpg
couples-05.jpg
couples-06.jpg
couples-07.jpg
business-01.jpg
business-02.jpg
business-03.jpg
business-04.jpg
family-01.jpg
family-02.jpg
family-03.jpg
family-04.jpg
family-05.jpg
family-06.jpg
family-07.jpg
family-08.jpg
family-09.jpg
family-10.jpg
family-11.jpg
family-12.jpg
family-13.jpg
children-01.jpg
children-02.jpg
children-03.jpg
children-04.jpg
children-05.jpg
children-06.jpg
children-07.jpg
children-08.jpg
children-09.jpg
newborn-01.jpg
newborn-02.jpg
newborn-03.jpg
newborn-04.jpg
newborn-05.jpg
newborn-06.jpg
newborn-07.jpg
newborn-08.jpg
newborn-09.jpg
newborn-10.jpg
newborn-11.jpgRecognition
Awards &
exhibitions
paris-01.jpg
Paris, November 2025
My work was selected for JUST WOMEN at ImageNation Paris 2025, part of Paris Photo OFF in Le Marais.
The exhibition opened on 14 November at Galerie Joseph Le Palais on rue Saint-Merri, the gallery's flagship space and the venue that opened the festival. Twelve international exhibitions ran across three galleries over five days. The opening was packed. The queue for the door ran down the street and kept going, and I stood inside a Paris gallery looking at my own photographs on the wall and at the people who had waited outside to see them.
paris-02.jpg
paris-03.jpgCertificates
I have worked with Marina on several professional and family photo shoots. She has an extraordinary ability to understand both what her clients want and what they need. She is kind, sensitive, and makes you feel at ease very quickly, allowing your true personality to shine through in every photograph.
Carlota, München
Vor dem Shooting war ich ehrlich gesagt sehr gespannt und auch etwas aufgeregt. Du hast direkt für eine so entspannte Atmosphäre gesorgt, dass wir uns schnell wohlgefühlt haben. Danach war ich vor allem überrascht, wie schön und selbstbewusst ich meine Mutter und mich auf den Bildern wiedergefunden habe.
Valeria, München
Das war das erste echte Fotoshooting mit meinem Sohn, daher war ich ziemlich nervös. Marina hat mich mit lustigen Fragen abgelenkt und ich konnte mich entspannen. Mein Sohn war ungeduldig, trotzdem konnte sie sehr schöne, einzigartige Momente aufnehmen.
Olga, Berlin
I had no idea I could look like this in a photo. No make-up, and up at five in the morning.
Anna, München
I love them. You are becoming our family photographer for life.
Hasmeet, Stuttgart
Dieses Fotoshooting war komplett anders als alle davor. Danke dir für so ein Erlebnis.
Alina, München
Investment
One price.
No decisions afterwards.
Preparation, the session itself and the finished gallery are one fee. Nothing is counted or charged per image.
Portrait session
600 €Women and men, for yourself
- Planning & creative direction
- Wardrobe guidance
- Location scouting
- 1.5-2 hour session
- Private edited gallery
- High-resolution files
Family session
600 €Outdoors or at home
- Planning & creative direction
- Wardrobe guidance
- Location scouting
- 1.5-2 hour session
- Private edited gallery
- High-resolution files
Business session
600 €Headshots and personal branding
- Planning & creative direction
- On location or in a studio
- Portraits, website images and workplace
- Usage for web, press and social media
- Private edited gallery
- High-resolution files
Newborn session
600 €At your home, in the first weeks
- Planning before the birth
- Wardrobe guidance
- I come to you
- Unhurried, around feeding and sleeping
- Private edited gallery
- High-resolution files
Video
300 €Per hour, minimum two hours
- One finished film, three to four minutes
- Editing, music and colour included
- Alongside a session or on its own
- Available light and live sound
Gift voucher
600 €Valid for three years
- Redeemable against any session
- The recipient chooses type, date and place
- Printable PDF or card by post
Typically around 60 finished photographs.
The date is held with a 50 € deposit, deducted from the final invoice. Preview gallery within a week, finished images in four to six weeks. Express delivery within one week: 150 €.
Studio rental at cost if a studio is used. Outside Munich, 0.50 € per kilometre. No VAT under § 19 UStG.
Before you book
How it works
You write. We talk for twenty minutes about the light, the place and what you want to keep. I send a preparation guide. We shoot. A preview gallery follows within a week, and the finished images four to six weeks after the session, depending on who makes the selection.
Services
What I photograph
in Munich
Cinematic, emotionally honest portraiture in Munich since 2019. In English or Russian. Every session is 600 € and includes a preview gallery within a week and the finished images four to six weeks after the session.
Contact
Remember this
version of yourself
Write with the date you have in mind, where you are, and who is in the picture - yourself included. I answer personally, usually within a day.