Photographer Munich - cinematic portrait, family and business photography

European cinematic portraiture - Munich

Photographer in Munich

You will never be this version of yourself again. That is who I photograph.

PortraitBusinessFamilyNewbornVideo Book a session

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.

Marina Mikhova - portrait, family and business photographer Munich 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

  1. 01ConceptMood, location and light.
  2. 02StylingWe build the wardrobe together.
  3. 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: Golden silence, Paris in the rain, Red lips, Mother and daughter, Autumn family.

Recognition

Awards &
exhibitions

2025 ImageNation Paris - JUST WOMEN Selected for exhibition · Galerie Joseph Le Palais, Paris
2024 German International Photocup Honorable Mention · Under FIAP, PSA, GPU and DVF patronage
2024 Classic Photography Gallery Group exhibition · By invitation
2023 The Independent Photographer, Black & White Award Editors' Pick · One of fifteen selected images
2020 · 2021 · 2025 Portrait Photo Awards Winner, three editions
2021 35AWARDS International Photography Award Top 70 in Germany · Top 10 in Munich
2020 - 2025 35AWARDS thematic contests Top 1% Emotions · Top 1% Woman Portrait with Flowers · Top 2% Street Portrait · Top 2% Mothers Love
Marina Mikhova Photography at ImageNation Paris 2025 JUST WOMEN exhibition 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.

ImageNation Paris 2025 JUST WOMEN photography exhibition openingparis-02.jpg
Marina Mikhova - exhibiting photographer at ImageNation Paris 2025paris-03.jpg

Certificates

German International Photocup - Honorable Mention certificate, Marina Mikhova The Independent Photographer - Editors' Pick, Black and White Award certificate 35AWARDS 2021 - international photography award certificate 35AWARDS 2022 - international photography award certificate 35AWARDS - children's emotional portrait category certificate 35AWARDS - woman portrait with flowers category certificate Portrait Photo Awards - winner certificate, Marina Mikhova

Clients

In their
own words

More reviews are on my Google profile.

I had no idea I could look like this in a photo. No make-up, and up at five in the morning.

Anna, München

Dieses Fotoshooting war komplett anders als alle davor. Danke dir für so ein Erlebnis.

Alina, München

I love them. You are becoming our family photographer for life.

Hasmeet, Stuttgart

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

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

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

Investment

One price.
No decisions afterwards.

Preparation, the session itself and the finished gallery are all included in one fee. Every shoot is built around the light, the place and the person in front of the camera. You get every frame that worked. Nothing is counted or charged per image.

Sessions 600 € · photography lessons 100 € · photo books from 150 € · gift vouchers

See sessions & prices

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.

Read the full FAQ

Services

Family, portrait & business
photography in Munich

A professional photographer Munich clients find in English since 2019, working with families, portraits, newborns and business clients across the city and the surrounding area. If you would rather be photographed in English than in German, that is how I work - sessions and correspondence in English or Russian, from the first message to the final gallery. Every session is 600 € and includes a preview gallery within a week and the finished images four to six weeks after the session.

Portrait Portrait sessions Women's and men's portraits, cinematic light, directed never posed Family Family sessions, outdoors or at home Along the Isar, in the Englischer Garten, at the lakes or at home · Christmas cards Couples Couples & love story In the city or outdoors, unposed Business Business and personal branding Editorial portraits for website, LinkedIn and press Children Children's portraits At home or outdoors, photographed while they play Lessons Photography lessons One to one, adults and children, in English or Russian Newborn Newborn, at your home I come to you, in the first weeks, at your pace
Marina Mikhova - photographer in Munich, working in English and Russian
Marina Mikhova, Munich

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.

Email

mikhovaphoto@gmail.com

Instagram

@mikhovaphoto

Based in

Munich, Germany
Travelling on request