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. Her artistic practice spans analog portraits, still-life, and street photography, with a particular emphasis on darkroom printing.

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, CATCH, 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 Joyce Theater, The Kitchen, The New York Times, The Shed, The Wooster Group, Times Square Arts, 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.

As an American Society of Media Photographers member, Maria actively engages with the artistic community. 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 film at the Whitney Museum of American Art, where it was added to the museum's permanent collection.