Between 2001-2013, after relocating to Georgia, she travelled and worked on an extended story about the South Caucasus and its conflicts. A subsequent book of her work during this time, Woman with a Monkey- Caucasus in Short Notes and Photographs, was published in 2014.

In 2016, with a grant from the E. Smith Memorial Fund, Justyna continued to explore the role of ethnicity and identity, 25 years after the fall of the Soviet Union, for Russians residing in former Soviet states. Her long-term project exploring modern Ukraine in turmoil with the Dnieper River as a metaphor of present split in the country, won the Aftermath Project Grant in 2015. Her book, A Ukraine Runs Through It, was later completed and published in 2019.

Justyna’s photography has been published in many international publications such as: The New York Times; Monocle; Newsweek International; Marie Claire; GEO France; National Geographic; Le Monde; Stern; and the German Yearbook of Reporters without Borders. She is a recipient of the Canon Female Photojournalist Award and a World Press Photo award.

Justyna lives in Tbilisi and alongside her own documentary photography, she teaches workshops and is available for lectures about her experiences travelling and documenting the countries of the former Soviet Union.