With an academic background in engineering and social sciences, culminating in a PhD in sociology, Yana Kononova transitioned to artistic practice at a mature stage. She hails from Pirallahi island and the Apsheron peninsula—the region of the Caspian Sea, culturally shaped by oil and gas extraction and known for its mud volcanoes. Natural gas seeps were ignited to create eternal fires in Zoroastrian temples. Later, her family migrated to Ukraine due to the First Nagorno-Karabakh War. In 2019, Kononova won the Bird in Flight Prize in Emerging Photography, and in 2022, she was honored with the Hariban Award presented by Benrido. Currently, she is furthering her education through the Art & Curatorial Practice program at the New Center for Research & Practice (USA). Kononova's practice centers on ecocritical investigations, delving into the historical gendering of landscapes, reframing the Romantic tropes and metaphors, and exploring techno-geographical imagination. Her work delves into ways of thinking and navigating through milieus with alien temporalities while examining the materiality inherent in the photographic medium. Using medium and large-format analog cameras, she aims to achieve the tactility she seeks in images residing on the threshold between the sensitivity of the photographic surface and the act of representation.