About me I was born in Ukraine, in the beautiful city of Odessa. I graduated from LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in 2004, in New York City. There I understood that I can't live without photography. I carry my camera everywhere I go, even if I think I won't be using it because, sometimes, interesting things happen when you are not expecting them. Nikon became my best friend ever since I became interested in photography. I'm interested in showing places in a way, they are perceived in real life. I guess I am some sort of a realist. I was very inspired by the NYC streets and its energetic lifestyle. I love still lives and portrait photography as well. Glamour is one of my favorite themes. My favorite photographers are Richard Avedon, Helmut Newton, Edward Weston and Thomas Struth. I like Avedon and Newton for their cold, expressionistic portraits; Weston for his surreal peppers and still lives and Struth for his photographs of empty streets. These photographers inspire me with their masterful skills of black and white photography. I love monochromatic photography because it makes you focus only on one thing rather than being overwhelmed by color. My work was submitted to various galleries and competitions. In 2003 I won gold in Scholastic Art & Writing competition for photography in New York State and silver in the nationals. I want to become a professional fashion photographer some day and work for a magazine. But for now I want to discover new perspectives of this wonderful world of photography and improve myself as much as I can… In Odessa in 2004 I've entered Odessa Nation University, majoring in foreign relations. In the summer of 2005 I joined Odessa Photographic Association (OPA) and became it's full member in the end of 2007. Since the beginning of 2005 I participated in different photography exhibition and in November, of the same year, I had my own first personal exhibition. In February 2006, during the annual wine exhibition, I got Honorable Mention, and already in 2008 I won a '3rd place for Advertising Photography'. Aslo in February 2008, I got Honorable Mention in 'NUDE Contest from Playboy Ukraine Magazine'. Today my works are displayed in the private collections in America and Ukraine. Exhibitions: July 20, 2008 - Personal exhibition: "New York: Retrospective". "Podorojnik", Odessa. 10 photos. February 8, 2008 - "Wine exhibition: PhotoVintage." Seaport exhibition center. 2 photographs. Award: 3rd place for Advertising. February 02, 2008 - Personal exhibition: "New York: Retrospective". Boutique "Arber," Nikolaev. 10 photos. January 24, 2008 - "OPA Exhibition: Best photos of 2007". Bulgarian Cultural Center. 4 photos. January 12, 2007 - "OPA Exhibition: Best photos of 2006". Bulgarian Cultural Center. 3 photos. December 2006 - Personal exhibition: "New York: Retrospective". Kiev. 13 photos. August 2, 2006 - "Project: Summer Fashion, Odessa." Club "Oxygen." 11 photos. March 17, 2006 - "Project: a Man and a Woman = a Photographer and a Model." Club "Oxygen". 5 photographs. February 2, 2006 - "Wine exhibition: PhotoVintage." Seaport exhibition center. 1 photograph. February 1, 2006 - "OPA exhibition: Photographs of the Year." Bulgarian Cultural Center. 3 photographs. December, 2005 - "Project: Snow maiden in Odessa." Club "Exit." 3 photographs. November 4, 2005 - "Portraits." Personal exhibition in Bamboo Art-Gallery. 45 photographs were displayed. September 16, 2005 - "Conceptual Photography." Bulgarian Cultural Center. 6 photographs. August 25, 2005 - "OPA photography exhibition." Museum of Western and Easter Art. 3 photographs. April 30, 2005 - "Project: Bloody Angel." Ukrainian Theatre. 5 photographs. March 31, 2005 - "Project: April Fools Day photography exhibition." Bamboo Art-Gallery. 1 photograph. March 24, 2005 - "Project: Men's…" Bamboo Art-Gallery. 2 photographs.