Irina Ionesco

It was only at the age of 34 that Irina Ionesco discovered photography. Born in Paris in 1930, she grew up in Romania in the circus world alongside her grandmother and uncles. Fleeing the Soviet occupation, she returned to Paris in 1946 and became a professional snake dancer and contortionist. This experience would later allow Irina to travel for many years, touring cabarets. But after an accident during a performance, she settled permanently in Paris, studied art, and discovered photography.

Irina Ionesco developed her own unique world, imbued with baroque influences, centered around the female figure, which made her particularly well-known in the fashion world. In the 1970s, she achieved recognition and a certain success in the art world thanks to her baroque and erotic images, populated by femme fatales posing amidst ornate settings. She photographed numerous personalities during the 1970s and 1980s, contributing to the bulk of her photographic body of work.

Her first solo exhibition was held in 1974 at the Nikon Gallery in Paris, at the same time as her first book was published. It immediately became a revelation to the art world and the general public, and marked the beginning of a long series of solo exhibitions and various publications, both in France and abroad.