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Slide #7397
Dina Litovsky

Photographer

Dina Litovsky

Santa Claus Convention

More than 1000 participants, including 750 professional Santas Claus impersonators, attended Discover Santa 2016, the largest professional Santa convention in the world held in Branson, Missouri. For several days, Santas engaged in-group activities such as the Parade of Red Suits, Sno-lympics, and gala dinners. Discover Santa also offered workshops giving tips on a variety of subjects, from properly grooming the beard to calming crying kids. Many of the Santas are retired professionals or veterans, who found their calling through volunteer work at children’s charities and hospitals. The men take
their job very seriously, preparing for the short but intense period of work all through the year. The series was photographed for National Geographic digital.

Dina Litovsky

Dina Litovsky’s work examines social performances and group interactions in both public and private spaces. Dina was born in Ukraine and moved to New York in 1991. After receiving her bachelor degree in Psychology from NYU, Dina turned to photography and earned her MFA graduate degree in Photography from the School of Visual Arts, NY in 2010.    Dina’s work has won many awards most recently including American Photography 33/32, POYi 2016 (2nd place), NPPA Best of Photojournalism (1st Place), PDN Photo Annual and the International Photography Awards (1st Place). In 2014, Dina was selected for PDN 30, New and Emerging Photographers to Watch.    Her work has been published in Time, The New York Times, National Geographic, The New Yorker, New York Magazine, Stern, GQ, Wired, Photo District News, Fotomagazin, Popular Mechanics and many others.    Dina is represented by Anastasia Photo gallery in NYC and Redux Pictures.