After high school, she served as a photographer in the Israel Defense Force spokesman unit for two years.
[11] The project focused on performers from small towns in Ukraine, Eastern Europe, England, and Israel,[11] and in 2008 it received the Constantiner Award for Photography from Tel Aviv Museum of Contemporary Art, Tel-Aviv.
[17] With How to Dance The Waltz (2021) she focused on military boarding schools, matador training academies, and teenagers in Ukraine preparing for their proms.
[18] Chelbin has participated in group shows in The Getty Center, Los Angeles,[19] The Jewish Museum, New York,[7] and the National Portrait Gallery, London.
[25] Chelbin cites Vermeer, Caravaggio, Velázquez, Diane Arbus, and August Sander as some of her biggest influences.