Bristol: St Paul's Carnival
These are the images taken during Martin Parr Foundation workshop with Matt Stuart, who is my inspiration and hero for last several years.
2018
2018 was quite a year.
It was a year when I finally saw “the light at the end of the tunnel”, a year when I've lost a very dear creature in my life, a year when I finally found myself. But let's not rush things.
In January I went to Barcelona with my dear friends from Moscow.
I came back to the city, last being here when I was 8 years old. I finally saw Sagrada Familia, the amazing Gothic quarter, was impressed by and the cold, empty beaches, private clubs, by the fantastic atmosphere, by the local skating scene and was happy to get away from gloomy London in January.
February was even gloomier, but I was happy to see Alex Stolze - we reconnected after missing each other for a couple of years when he came for a gig in Union Chapel.
In 2018 I also discovered British leftfield jazz scene and completely fell in love with GoGo Penguin. And it was a terrible setback to discover, that all of their UK shows were immediately sold out. I didn't give up and bought a ticket to see them in Amsterdam, where they have played a fantastic gig in Paradiso. Coincidentally, on it was my friend's Birthday on the same day, so I've plotted a little surprise, and we went together.
Also, Stedelijk has opened a massive new exhibition on the lower floor, showcasing works of art, that were in storage for ages, so this short getaway was all about friends, music and art.
Our cat Jeeves quite enjoyed the snow, which brought havoc and chaos to London, being there for a bit over a week. City was paralysed, even telephones rejected to work, Londoners had a smalltalk topic sorted out for months to come, but the snow itself has brought a new taste to the gloominess of British winter.
In April I was shooting some backstage pics for the music video for Cartae, which was a new experience and I loved it, hope to do more of this next year.
It was interesting to see all cinema production act like a clockwork mechanism and it was great to meet new people and learn some tricks a well.
In May we were invited to my old friend’s engagement party in Cambridge, and we finally made a trip on a punt. They only camera I had on my was Hasselblad Xpan, a present from my dear wife, and that worked great for this scenario
In June I went back to Moscow to see family and friends and for my friend Vlad’s wedding. It was the first time I came back and felt wrong, not local anymore. It was almost surreal to see familiar places surrounded by an entirely new city, having covered it's shit up for the football madness and people coming from all over the world. On the other hand, it was great to have almost an expat experience, when you can go and see new and exciting things all the time, afford much more, then I used to, but be surrounded by friends and relatives, who missed you.
July was unexpectedly hard and sad. Our dearest ginger cat Leica has died on my Birthday, while I was in Barcelona with my wife and friends. It was a hard and dark moment.
In August this year Vanity Fair UK has published my photo in their material on Mrs Moussaieff, the Queen of diamonds, as they put it.
Also in August, me and Nadia has followed our new tradition and went on a bikepacking trip to Dorset, which is always a great adventure and (re)treat.
Waterscapes from the beginning of the album were featured on official Leica Russia instagram channel.
At the end of August I’ve decided, that after 16 years of avoiding portrait photography, it might be a right moment to revisit it again, learn more and take some new photos of my friends. I must admit, I'm proud of a couple of pics here.
The autumn was beautiful and nervous. I didn’t take much photos in London - was overwhelmed with work, I guess.
I had a short business trip to Moscow and made a couple of pics there, including this beautiful sunrise on the way to our country house: my parents have picked me up from the airport, and we drove straight to Alexandrov.
In December I’ve realised, I’ve not visited Saint-Petersburg for over 7 years, and terribly miss my friends, who live there and the city. This was a right decision to go!
Evening Brixton
I had a fantastic day with friends, but got camera out of the pocket only in the very evening.
Venice Biennale 2015: Remastered
In May 2015 I was commissioned by The Art Newspaper to shoot a report about Venice Biennale. I have decided to have another look at them and rethink color correction on most. I'm uploading my own selection of works, including street shots, cityscapes and of course a lot of art and people staring at it.
