About Me

Photography has always been a part of my life. In my school years in St. Petersburg, immersed in all things art, I planned entire photoshoots after classes—envisioning scenes, styling and directing classmates, editing every frame to bring the vision to life. Creative portrait photography stayed with me through every chapter that followed: a Bachelor’s in business management in Finland, fully funded Master’s and doctoral studies in entrepreneurship and business development in Sweden, and a decade-long career in international business and regional development—consulting companies on strategy and resilience, publishing peer-reviewed research, teaching and mentoring Master’s students, and producing educational and community events that foster positive change. In 2020, Sweden’s Foreign Ministry named me a Global Swede for “excellent social, innovative, and entrepreneurial performances”—and through it all, I kept shooting and telling stories.

In 2024, my family and I moved across the Atlantic, and I did what I had spent eight years in academia studying: I became an entrepreneur. I founded VEKSALINA Photography near Portland, Oregon, growing it from zero into concept-driven portraiture, creative direction, and a fine-art print shop shipping coast to coast. Photography has been my passion all along—and everything I gained throughout my international career, from knowledge and skills to experience and network, now fuels my business and my vision.

And at the heart of it all is simply who I am—the photographer, the creator, and the explorer. As a photographer, I spent decades absorbing inspiration, from classical paintings to powerful cinema, and shaping a style built on three words—elegant, vintage, and cinematic—with a beloved collection of vintage manual-focus lenses lending my portraits their soft, film-like soul. As a creator, I begin every session long before the shutter clicks—concepts, mood boards, styling, sometimes handmade props—while my love of crafts and interior design keeps me living and breathing aesthetics every day. And as an explorer who has lived in four countries, visited a dozen more, and carries thousands of saved locations on my phone, I build entire visual concepts around places that leave a lasting impression—old streets steeped in history, mountain lakes, canyons, coastal ridges—so every portrait becomes a scene from a story worth keeping.