Tiana Markova-Gold

Tiana trained as a Full Spectrum Doula with Birthing Advocacy Doula Trainings, a Black-owned, queer-run organization that approaches birth work through a justice-based lens and centers inclusivity, accessibility and culturally appropriate, trauma-informed care for all birthing people. She spent the summer of 2025 learning from midwife Katherine Bramhall at Gentle Landing Birth Center, where she sat in on prenatal and postpartum visits, facilitated a bi-weekly postpartum support group, and provided labor support and in-home postpartum care. She is a member of the Doula Mentorship Program with Manhattan Birth, a midwife-led community of birth workers committed to evidence-informed education, support and advocacy and is certified as an Integrative Lactation & Feeding Specialist. Tiana has been a documentary photographer for over 20 years, primarily working on projects focused on issues impacting women and girls. Her work has included stories about empowerment and education programs for adolescent girls, teen pregnancy and parenting, the lives and experiences of sex workers, and community support for birthing people. She has been privileged to travel extensively and collaborate with incredible grassroots organizations around the world. Since the birth of her daughter in 2019, the focus of her photography work has shifted to creating intimate portrayals of pregnancy, birth, early childhood and family, and supporting birthing people to feel empowered and nurtured throughout their reproductive journeys. Before she got into photography, Tiana trained as a dancer and has been practicing yoga for many years. She makes custom face oils and body butters incorporating aromatherapy/essential oils, she loves to cook, and she knows how to sew (for a few years she designed and produced a small line of clothing and swimwear). Tiana is currently deepening her knowledge of herbal support and plant medicine through study with the Vermont Center for Integrative Herbalism. Tiana studied photography in the Documentary/Photojournalism Program at the International Center of Photography in 2006-07 and was a student in the full-time Certificate Program at Alvin Ailey American Dance Center in 1996-97. She holds a B.A. in Women's Studies and Ethnic Studies from Vermont College Independent Study Program.