b&w photos > artist statement

"Forgotten virtues"

I was born in a very big city and used to live in other big cities for a very long time, until finally moving to the province in 1994. I did it in order to develop some primary ideas of our mind, some primary patterns of childhood, which are very often lost when we become adults. What is the difference between a child and an adult except its size and a lack of innocence? We definitely lost paradise, but what is paradise really? Is it fantasies, dreams, the hope of eternity? I watched the play of my children when they imitated our behavior and saw how different they are, very simple but seeing deep into the nature of things. Very ordinary things become magic, a piece of cloth is a king’s garment and a gesture is enough to express every possible expression. All children on the planet repeat the same pattern which is possibly implanted by some laws of evolution. When they say "smile" before taking a picture — they have already taken leave of the primary pattern forever. Archaic smile, nirvana, ecstasy of old art — what is in there? Emotions are too obvious and there is no place for dreams. Mass production makes no sense for individuality.

I took my camera at first to create new ideas for my figurative paintings but soon realized the possibility of light itself adding a new dimension with exposure and movement. BW film interpret the world differently from our colour vision and digital technologies bring more possibilities, but nobody cancelled simple breathtaking image, which can still be possible to make with an old mechanical camera and a good sense of composition. The only problem is — to touch an image with a magic sense of humour and childhood. The other problem is professionalism — all models, all studios, all cameras, all portfolios are basically the same, some kind of fashion even in fine art. I never do that — individuality is more important for me, but individuality is not enough — it should be able to touch everyone.