Ilvy Njiokiktjien was born in 1984 in Utrecht, the Netherlands.
After
attending high school in the Netherlands, she went overseas for one
year, to
study in the United States of America (South Dakota).
She returned to the Netherlands to study journalism and photography in Utrecht.
Ilvy
graduated in 2006 and she started working as a writer and photographer
for the
Dutch newspaper Sp!ts and for the Dutch Press Agency, ANP.
In 2007 she took off to work for
The Star,
a daily newspaper based in South Africa,
Johannesburg. This is where
the idea arose to travel from Johannesburg to Utrecht, by
car. Ilvy
took many astounding photographs during this seven month's journey.
In 2008 she won the prestigious
Canonprijs, part of the
Zilveren Camera (Silver
Camera). In that same year she also won the first prize in the
National Geographic
Photography Contest. At
this moment she is working hard on her exhibition in the
Town Hall of
Utrecht.