ABOUT
I am a portrait and headshot photographer based in Upstate New York.
Born in Moscow, I specialized in art history and journalism in school and studied painting with various artists.
I believe that a good portrait photographer needs not only strong photographic skills, but a fascination with people. You must be a good psychologist/therapist, and have outstanding social skills and rich life experiences. Those things are vital if your goal is to create a portrait of a soul, a personality, a complex human being.
I’ve called the United States home since 1989, and have traveled extensively throughout Europe (always with my camera in hand). I had an opportunity to formally study photography at the International Center of Photography in New York in 2001.
My influences include Annie Leibovitz, Richard Avedon, Herb Ritts, Yousuf Karsh, Irving Penn, Peter Lindberg and most importantly, classical painters such as Rembrandt, Vermeer, Botticelli, Repin, Surikov, John Singer Sargent, and many others.