Vanessa Kray was born in 1994 as the daughter of an intercultural couple and grew up in and around Passau, Germany. Her curiosity for art started in her childhood. Fascinated by her mother’s old film camera, Vanessa took her first photo at the young age of two.

Her curiosity turned soon into a deep passion for art and accompanied Vanessa throughout her childhood and early teenage years, allowing her to express her feelings and experiences through dancing, painting, photography and writing.

Inspired by Studio Ghibli’s Whisper of the Heart, Vanessa decides to dedicate one year near the end of her final year of school to her self-taught training as a photographer.

During that year of learning, Vanessa widened her knowledge of different photography genres, her equipment and manual camera settings, which allowed her afterwards to work as an event, portrait and wedding photographer, while simultaneously deepening her artistic skills.

Vanessa’s intense studies and deep love for photography opened the possibility for her to teach new and advanced photographers in Munich from October 2020 to December 2021.

Due to the Coronavirus Pandemic and the restrictions that came with it, Vanessa devoted more time to her other passions, such as painting and writing.

Vanessa now sees herself as a multidisciplinary creative and is drawn to different art forms depending on the project and her mood. Her creative work reflects the human experience in all its facets.

Over the past years, Vanessa has showcased her works through multiple group exhibitions and opened her first solo exhibition, PIECE OF ME, at the Kulturmodell Passau, Germany, in August 2024.