Maria Baranova is an acclaimed New York-based photographer and art director known for her striking dance and theater imagery. With a solid foundation in Art Painting and Photography, she has captured the dynamic world of experimental performance since 2012. 

Maria's client list includes prominent institutions, renowned artists, and companies such as Abrons Arts Center, Fisher Center at BARD, Baryshnikov Arts, Be More Chill The Broadway Musical, Big Dance Theater, Bill T. Jones / Arnie Zane Dance Company, BAM, Bushwick Starr, Faye Driscoll, HERE, Hauser & Wirth, Japan Society, Miles Greenberg, MoMA, New School, New Museum, New York Live Arts, PACE Gallery, Perelman Performing Arts Center, Park Avenue Armory, PERFORMA, Performance Space New York, Prototype Festival, The Juilliard School, The Joyce Theater, The Kitchen, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Times, The Shed, Times Square Arts, Trisha Brown Dance Company, Under The Radar Festival, Watermill Center, Whitney Museum, among others.

Her work has been featured in notable publications, including "Midnight Moment: A Decade of Artists in Times Square" and "For Freedoms: Where Do We Go From Here?" published by Phaidon in 2024.

Maria is a member of the American Society of Media Photographers, USA. She was invited to participate in Early Stage Creative Residencies by Chocolate Factory Theater with public showing of her installation in March 2025. She participated in residencies at The Watermill Center's International Summer Program in 2017 and 2018.  From 2016 to 2018, Baranova filmed and edited a performance series by Sibyl Kempson, 12 Shouts to the Ten Forgotten Heavens, which culminated in a public showing of the her film at the Whitney Museum of American Art, where it was added to the museum's  collection.