1. My aim is creation. I love the idea of expressing myself in creative ways. For years I have harbored a
secret desire to become an artist. There always were so many artistic ways I would love to express myself.
If I could I would be a musician and a movie director and a philosopher and a gardener and a poet.
Unfortunately, in all these disciplines my ability can't meet my enthusiasm. Where I can create and want
to brake tired codes is with a camera.
But it all started in my bedroom back home in Russia at age 12. I was always drawing. And quickly
realized how much joy it is to express yourself through art. No one in my family is even remotely
connected to art in any way, but it didn’t stop me from taking my passion seriously. It was coming out of
me naturally. I would just buy paper, charcoal and pencils and would experiment with my tools day and
night. If you were to walk into my room back when I was 13 it would appear to you as a room of a full
time painter- experimenter. It was true passion. In the beginning I wasn’t particularly good at it and it
would frustrate me but I would never give up I loved it too much. So I would practice again and again
trying to reach as much realness to my portraits as I could. And surely the more I practiced the more I
started to get better and better. That experience was one of the biggest life lessons for me : mastery comes
with practice and love to your art would keep you going. It also gave me confidence that you only get
when you do what you love.
Living in a small town in southern Russia I saw no practical application for my passion. My mom
suggested I would still be doing what I loved but also get a practical major and later logical career. So I
did. The only other thing I knew better than drawing was English. I was always fascinated with far off
lands and cultures as well as love for music and movies that were mostly in English. Even though I've
learned so much at the university English wasn’t my path. I've always wanted to break out of my small
hometown and into the big world. Shortly I've got a chance to move to the USA so I couldn't but jump on
the opportunity without any fear. I knew it would grow me so much living on my own and finding my
place in this world. Living on my own for the first time has taught me many things and matured my
personality, made me learn new cultures and make friends from around the globe. It was nothing I
expected it to be but I had so much fun and joy through that experience and never felt homesick or
regretted my decision.
The only thing that was still unclear in my life was my career path. My constant eager to learn new things
lead me to buy my first digital camera. I quickly realized that it was exactly what I needed. I felt in my
skin with my camera. For me it was evolution of my childhood passion but now I was drawing with a
camera and a lens. As when I was 12 it wasn’t a chore for me to learn about all the function of my
camera . Learning about aperture, and shutter speed, and white balance, and exposure was exiting and I

2. felt powerful to create good images for my friends concerts and made my friends pose for my portrait
experiments. one of the reasons I loved photography was that it was my way of connecting with people
when they were happy to have their images and also felt I contributed somehow and added value to their
lives with my skill. Their simple joy is my creative release. In life and in photography, I want to be the
best in my field