Ilvy Njiokiktjien

Ilvy Njiokiktjien is a photojournalist, filmmaker, podcast host and educator with nearly two decades of experience documenting contemporary social issues. Her work is known for its sensitive and personal approach to storytelling, often focusing on themes of identity and injustice.

For 17 years, Ilvy chronicled South Africa's first post-apartheid generation, resulting in her long-term project ‘Born Free – Mandela’s Generation of Hope’. More recently, she has documented Ukraine’s LGBTQ community, capturing their stories of love, fear, and resilience amid the Russian invasion. Her latest project explores co-housing, following people who live in non-traditional communal arrangements or share homes with extended family.

Ilvy was an early adopter of combining photography and film, and has experimented with VR to bring her subjects closer to audiences. She has also hosted several podcasts and online interview programs for VII Insider and Canon.

She studied at the School of Journalism in Utrecht and spent part of her studies at Rhodes University in South Africa. Growing up in the Netherlands as a child of Dutch and Chinese Indonesian parents, she has a keen eye for issues of identity and social justice.

Ilvy is represented by VII Photo and is a Canon ambassador. She was the first female recipient of the Dutch Silver Camera Award for Photographer of the Year and became the first Photographer Laureate of the Netherlands in 2013. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, National Geographic, TIME, The Guardian, Stern, Der Spiegel, and many other publications, and has been exhibited at festivals and museums worldwide, including Visa pour l’Image in France and New York’s Photoville.

World Press Photo Involvement:
2025 World Press Photo Contest jury member
2012 World Press Photo Winner

Ilvy Njiokiktjien on Social Media:
Instagram: @ilvynjio
X: @ilvynjio