This photograph was taken by my grandpa in Polotsk, Belarus. I was about 3 years old.

My grandpa served by the military, but he also was a passionate photography lover. As many at that time.

He had a big collection of different photo cameras at home. Often he would take photographs of his family, friends and things that interested him. With time it became a photo diary of his life.

I still remember red lights coming out from the bathroom where he would develop films by himself. For me as a kid it was such a memorizing and magical experience.

Thanks to my grandpa now we have tons of photographs in our family archives. Those images still play an important part in our life to keep great memories about the past and remember our friends and relatives.

Most of the photographs were in black and white. Maybe that is one of the reasons why I would develop a special relationship for black and white photography. Who knows!

I am asked this question quite often. Below you will find various answers on this topic from my previous interviews:

_____

Belarusian artist Jurij Treskow was drawn to the world of photography not by a fascination with cameras, but by the intoxicating lifestyle of high-end fashion. It happened when he was still a student, when a friend's cousin, a model, visited from Lithuania. "She would tell us stories of her travels, the world of fashion, and photo shoots," Treskow says.

Maxim USA 2017

____

Меня бесят, когда мне задают одни и те же вопросы. В начале это льстило, но сейчас бесит до белого коленя. "А как ты стал заниматься фотографией?". О, тысяча чертей! Да потому, что ничего другого толком у меня не получалось и до сих пор не получается.

Sladkoenapotom. 2011

____

Самые первые снимки я делал на фотоаппарат моего деда. Снимал все, что видел, а видел тогда не особо много. И сильной страсти не было, я был весьма индифферентен к фотографии. Я больше любил рассматривать фотографии. Было любопытно, как и любому другому ребенку. А уже любовь к фотографии пришла от любви к жизни.

KYKY 2013

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Из детства я помню редкое для того времени, безграничное количество фотопленок, которые снимал дедушка. Безграничному количеству проявленных пленок равнялся миллиард коробок с черно-белыми фотографиями, которые я люблю рассматривать до сих пор. Может это быть началом причины?
Продолжение территориально пришлось на Германию, и мой первый успех, когда на уроке искусства по теме «фотография» мой проект выделили как образцовый. Это был момент осознания, что в чем-то я могу быть лучше остальных, и зависит это не от знаний, а от умений.
Третья часть причины, в лучших традициях жизненных путей, – случайность. Мой друг, который работал в модельном агентстве «Elephant» в Бресте, предложил поснимать девочек. Поснимать – очень подходящее слово для того этапа. Это, честно, были съемки с целью знакомиться с девчонками.

Fatal 2018

____

Сначала я фотографировал росу по утрам и всякие пылинки, макро-съемка была моим предпочтением. Был такой сайт еще skill.ru, на который я выкладывал свои работы и там была система комментариев и оценок.

И я был чуть ли не первым зарегистрировавшимся пользователем, потому что я знал создателя этого проекта.

Тогда была очень своеобразная интернет-тусовка. И вот этот стимул выставлять фотографии и получить комментарии от людей, это еще тот кучерявый 2002-2003 год или, не знаю, может, чуть раньше. И это было очень круто для того, чтобы расширить свой кругозор и пообщаться с людьми. Это дико звучит, но тогда это было увлекательно. И, в общем, я выставлял всякие картинки. И в тот момент, когда там были рейтинги, я был в топ-10, но не из-за качества, а просто наверное, из-за методичности и настырности. И постепенно эти фотографии привели меня к тому, что если фотографируешь людей, то получаешь более высокий рейтинг.

Потом я переехал в Брест, у моего друга, который был стилистом, у него были контакты с моделями из модельного агентства «Элефант». И, в общем, он мне по дружбе сказал, что есть пара очень талантливых девчонок и предложил с ними организовать съемки. И тогда это было в виде съемок, когда я их просил принести какую-то одежду. Я придумывал всякие разные сюжеты, покупал красные нитки, тащил из дома всякие разные странные вещи…

Odyssey 2019

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Treskow took a camera for the first time at three years old. His grandfather was an amateur photographer and collected old cameras that he used as building blocks to build his fantasy worlds, as precious pieces of Lego in the last breaths of the Soviet Union. Three decades later, the camera remains the element he uses to catch his fantasies. His main influences are Avedon, Newton, Bourdin and Penn.

Solar 2018

Born in Belarus. At the age of 17 Jurij moved to Germany. In 2008 started doing photography in Berlin.

In 2009 he settled in Paris to become a professional photographer.

Treskow's work is characterized by an intuitive sense of sexuality and attention to detail. In his mostly Black & White pictures, his favorite subject is a woman, a femme fatale – strong, confident and reckless.

Jurij lives and works between New York City, Los Angeles, Berlin and Paris. Uff..

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When I was 17 years old we moved with my parents to Germany from Belarus.

I didn't have any specific artistic background in my family and I wasn't really interested much in arts as a kid.

But during an art course in gymnasium I took some lessons in photography. Some basic stuff.

We shot some images outside on film and then we developed them at our school lab. In the end we had to make a collage out of our photographs and present them infront of the class. To my surprise my presentation got a very good response from our photography curator. I was pleased and it pushed me to pursue with photography further.

I got a camera from a friend of mine and kept on shooting things around me. Mostly nature, flowers and landscapes. Sometimes I would take some portraits of my friends. Some of these images I would later upload on online platforms dedicated to photography.

Often I would go back to Brest to spend my vacations with my close friends. And one of my friends used to work for a model agency called "Elephant". When he found out that I had some interest in photography he suggested me to shoot some of his models. He helped me to arrange my first shootings. I was driven by a deep curiosity and also a desire to meet new people.

For my first shootings I had no mood-boards prepared and I didn't have any references. At this time I didn't know anything about things like golden ratio, composition, aperture and so on... All settings on my camera were set to automatic so the only thing I needed to do is to push the button.

But most important I didn't have any expectations from the final results. No expectations, no pressure - only fun and joy.

I saw myself as a real amateur who was curious and ready to experiment, to explore and discover new things. When I look back I can say that most of my ideas were quite crazy and ridiculous.

Sometimes I would shoot 2000-2500 (!) photographs per each shooting. After my final selections I might have 300-400 (!) photographs left that I really liked. Can you imagine 300-400!? Obviously it was way too much but I sincerely liked them all.

I was so excited with the results and I couldn't wait to show them to my friends. From them I got feedback they were my first mentors.

In the end I did 6-8 shootings with different models in Brest that summer. I completely fall in love with photography.

I came back to Germany very inspired and looked for new opportunities to pursue my new hobby.

In Brest I bought a used 20 D Canon for almost 900 $ from a friend of mine. Back then it was a relatively good digital camera. My friend showed me how to use the camera, the basics. I used an automated mode on my first shootings. The manual mode was too complicated to me.

Unfortunately 2 weeks later my camera got broken. Something happen to the shutter. I gave it back to my friend so he could repair it using his warranty. I didn't have enough time to wait until it will be repaired. It was time to go back to Germany. I got a Canon 30D and a 50 mm 1.4 lens.

Fix lens became a great teacher for me. It taught me to move to get a better composition. If you want to get closer to or further away from your subject you physically have to do so. You can't just zoom in and out.

Another advantage of using a fix lens is that you generally get to use a wider aperture. It could give a shallow depth of field, which creates a bokeh effect which means that your subject would be in focus and the background / foreground is blurry. I often used this effect in portraits and I was amazed by it.

Plus fix lenses perform better in low light. For me a 50mm was a perfect solutions for a beginner. I could take proportional full-lengths and also great portraits. And for a relatively cheap price you get a good quality lens.

Olga was one of my first professional models I shot in Brest. Later she became my first mentor and introduced me into fashion photography.

For our shootings she would prepare various outfits to shoot, different make-up and hair and even she would suggest locations that can fit looks. She also had a collection of references and moods for lightning, poses and different compositions. This kind of preparation was new to me.

After our shootings Olga would sit down with me and help by final selection. She explained to me some basics of fashion photography and an importance of learning how to shoot clothes. Also how to work and direct models. With her help my photographs became better.

She also introduced to me some fashion magazines and fashion photographers to look after.

It helped me to take photography more seriously and to make more research on photography and fashion in general.

I was still studying economics at the university and I had lectures every day. But my new passion took more and more of my time.

I intended to arrange new shootings with models in Freiburg and around. I did a little research for websites with models and found www.model-kartei.de and www.modelstyle.de , websites where you can find and book mostly amateur and semi-professional models, stylists, make-up and hair artists for your shootings.

I uploaded some of my recent photographs to build my first portfolio. I found some cool models I liked but most of them were not from Freiburg.

When I would find a model I like I would prepare a mood-board and send her a message asking if she is interested in shooting together. Olga in Brest taught me how to use mood-boards to translate my ideas into visuals.

If the model liked the concept we would set a date and meet for a shooting. In the beginning I didn't have any teams but just two of us. I often used a park close to my apartment in Freiburg as a location for my first shootings. It was very convenient because we always could come back to my apartment to change to another look and go back to continue shooting.

Few months later I felt confident enough to register on professional platforms dedicated to photography. I was ready to show my photographs to other photographers and get some feedback as well.

At this time there was a very popular photo-platform in Russia called - photosight.ru

It was one a the most respected websites for photography with many great photographers having their portfolios online. It was a great community of photography professionals and amateurs.

I would spend hours on this website looking through portfolios of other photographers. Often I would send a message to a photographer I liked and would ask him things about photography. I wasn't shy about asking questions.

With time my photographs would get some positive feedback as well. The comments and the critic used to be different back than to what we have nowadays. Users were giving their reasoned opinions about your work and not just simply texting emojis.

Their critic helped me a lot in realizing what worked in my pictures and what didn't.

Photosight.ru had a system of rankings among users. Images with most comments and ratings would be shown on the main page and then you also can upload more images per week. Otherwise you are limited to one photograph per week.

This competitive element kept me on getting better and better. I would start to invest more time and energy in reading books on photography, taking some online classes in retouching with the goal to improve my skills.

The movie "Blow Up" by a genius Antonioni made a huge impression on me. The narrative covers a day in the life of a glamorous fashion photographer in London in the 60s.

For the first time in my life I could see in detail what could life of a fashion photographer look like.

Years later I had an opportunity to shoot one of the main characters of this movie - Veruschka. We took some portraits of her for a Russian Numero in Moscow. She came for her exhibition at MMoMa.

Exciting films on great artists.

Mapplethorpe (2018)
Jean-MIchel Basquiat (1996)
Helmut Newton - The Bad and the Beautiful (2020)
Peter Lindbergh The women stories (2019)

In 2007 I did my first shooting with Helena. I found her profile on model-kartei and asked her if she is interested to shoot together.

Helena has worked as a model already for several years. Her portfolio consisted of photographs from editorials and some commercial work.

I sent her a mood-board with some ideas. Few days later she came to Freiburg with some outfits for our shooting accordingly to the references.

I was amazed and very excited. She inspired me a lot with her poses and different moods during the whole shooting. I couldn't stop taking images with Helena for the next 5 hours which seemed to me like 5 minutes.

Some of the images looks like the very beginning of a new style that I would develop in the following years: la femme fatale. A strong, confident, sexy woman in full control.

I took this "tough" decision by myself.

After finishing gymnasium I went to Freiburg to study economics. I didn't know exactly what I want to do in my life professionally so economics seemed to be a safe choice for me at that moment until I figure out what's next.

I enjoyed my first 2 years at the university. I went to lectures and passionately took part at activities at the campus.

But then photography slowly took more and more place in my life. I began to spend more time on shootings rather preparing for the exams. Photography became a new passion. I got curious where it could lead me to.

After 2 years I felt stuck in Freiburg. I couldn't get models I wanted to shoot and I started thinking about moving to Berlin

I've never been to Berlin before and I didn't have any friends, no place to stay, nobody was offering me a job. It was a risky adventure.

I talked to my parents about my plans and they were confused. Photography? Moving to Berlin? What about finishing my studies at the university? Where I am going to stay? How I am planing to
finance it?

Many questions and I had no clear answers and I couldn't assure that everything is going to be okay. I just had my intuition that told me that I have to go.

I said that I will transfer to the university in Berlin and I will continue studying economics. Then I could keep a scholarship and from this money I will pay for my apartment and I will have some pocket money left. That will be enough for the beginning.

I am very grateful to my parents for supporting my intention to follow my dreams and to move to Berlin.

I packed my stuff and prepared myself for a new journey. I got a train ticket and it took me 4 hours to get there from Frankfurt.

Berlin in 2007 was a very special and unique place to be. Raw and wild. Berlin was famous to be sexy but poor. The capital city for techno music and a new approaching and vibrant art scene. Many young creatives from all over the world would move into the city to live their dreams. Energy was pulsating in cycles and spirals from everywhere and from everybody.

I got lucky and I found a beautiful room in a city center, at Rosenthaler Platz in Mitte.
I shared the apartment with 2 girls from Paris. They came to study economics to Berlin. We became friends and we spent a great year together exploring the city.

For days I would walk through the streets and squares and parks in Berlin, studying the city map and getting immersed into the new world. Falling in love with my new home. I could take inspiration from everywhere around me: architecture, galleries, clubs, cinemas, cafes and city history and of course people I've met.

All this was influencing me a lot and changing my perspective and vision for photography.

I made a list with best schools that teach photography in Berlin.

I printed some of my photographs from Freiburg and Brest and made a portfolio out of them to show later at the appointments. I chose 2 best institutions and went to see them. LETTE VEREIN and KREUZSCHULE ( has closed already).

I showed my portfolio of about 15 photographs. The feedback was okay. They said that I already have a pretty recognizable style. It might be not the best idea to apply now. Their recommendation was to keep on taking photographs for another year and then to come back.

Only after visiting them I found out that the course takes 3 years, 6-8 hours a day plus it costs a lot of money.

First I didn't have money to pay. Secondly I didn't know how could I manage to combine studying economics at the university and studying photography at the school at the same time.

But most importantly I was not ready to spend another 3 years learning photography.

I also had some time at their office to take a look at diploma works of their students. Honestly I wasn't impressed at all. I found almost all images way too simple and not appealing to me.

Anyway I did apply for the next year at both institutions. А few weeks later I got refused.

I took this with gratitude!

A very interesting and helpful book how to get a master in any field you would choose.

Mastery is the fifth book by the American author Robert Greene. The book examines the lives of historical figures such as Charles Darwin and Henry Ford, as well as the lives of contemporary leaders such as Paul Graham and Freddie Roach, and examines what led to their success.

It takes around 10 000 hours to became a master in almost every field.

1. Apprenticeship - you must choose places of work and positions that offer the greatest possibilities for learning. Value learning over money. Keep expanding your horizons, experiment, trial and error mode.
   
2. Creative-Active. Instead of feeling complacent about what you know, you must expand your knowledge to related fields, giving your mind fuel to make new associations between different ideas. Look at problems from all possible angles. In the end, you will turn against the very rules you have internalized, shaping and reforming them to suit your spirit.
   
3. Mastery. Learn how to quiet the anxiety you feel whenever you are confronted with anything that seems complex or chaotic.

I kept on arranging new shootings mainly using web platforms for amateur models. In Berlin I would have much more options for models than in Freiburg and Brest.

I also contacted some model agencies in Berlin to organize some shootings with their models. Agencies would only send me new faces in their packages.

Next step for me was to build teams. I did an online research for stylists, make-up and hair artists in Berlin. I would check their portfolios on their websites and then I would send to selected artists messages about collaborations together and I would share mood-boards and discuss ideas about possible shootings. Not every artist would respond to my requests.

Few months later I could build my first organized teams. We would together discuss ideas for our shootings, choose locations and make mood-boards. Stylists would bring outfits and make-up and hair artists would work on model's outlooks. This art of collaboration has changed my images and made them look more like fashion shots and more sophisticated. I would ask many questions about how fashion works, how to start to work for the magazines, to shoot campaigns and to get great models from the model agencies. I let my curiosity lead me.

I was learning a lot about fashion industry and working in teams through our collaborations. I kept on making new connections and organizing new shootings with new artists. Learning by doing.

Almost all of my earliest shootings were unpaid. For the first few years I wasn't even thinking for charging money for my work.

Sometimes I even had to spend my own money to make shootings happen. For example I would pay for model's train tickets or taxis to get to Berlin or to the studio. My first little investments in photography.

Another important key factor of my progress during this period was that I got more exciting locations for my outdoor shootings. I would walk the streets in Berlin and mark interesting spots for future shootings.

Great backgrounds made my photography look more compelling.

I shot Julia, a model from model agency - Izaio, at Liquidrom in Berlin. It was a big shooting with a stylist, make-up and hair artist. Preparations took us several weeks. We even did a fitting at stylist's place few days before the shooting to confirm the looks.

In the end we got great results. Everybody were happy and excited. A wonderful feeling of joy.

I've uploaded some of the photographs at photosight.ru
And this particular image got a huge feedback with many praising comments and reviews. For several weeks this image was leading in top-charts.

In this photograph I could achieve finding a perfect artistic balance among composition and geometry, styling and the pose. All worked great with each other. It's still one of my favorite photographs I've ever shot.

It was my big achievement for me. It made me more confident about my photography. This external approval from many professional photographers was a good sign that I am on the right way.

When people praise you for doing something, it's very pleasurable and gives you energy to keep on doing it.

In the end those images got printed by one independent french magazine. Me and the whole team were very very happy.

During my first months in Berlin I was studying a lot about about photography and about photographers and their work.

If I would find a photographer I liked I would try to get all information possible about him or her. Not only I was looking through their photographs to get inspiration but I also was reading and watching interviews with them. That helped me to understand more where they took their inspiration from, how they would approach photography, learn new skills and techniques and evolve further as professional photographers.

Helmut Newton, Richard Avedon, Paolo Roversi, Sarah Moon, Irving Penn, Sante D'Orazio were among those photographers who inspired me most and became my mentors in photography.

Helmut Newton influenced me most of all. He was born in Berlin and it made my bond to him and the city even more deep.

I have visited numerous art exhibitions in Berlin during this period.

And also at this time art scene was blooming in the city and many cool things were happening almost everyday. I went to many gallery openings, art events and museums. Slowly I would immerse myself more and more into the art world.

One of my photographs was mentioned during a Germany's Next Topmodel on German TV. It was a TV-show for models who wanted to pursue a professional career.

At some point the jury were examining model's portfolios. Then they saw my photograph and asked who did this shot? And a model answered that it was made by Jurij Treskow.

This model sent me later the video from the show. I was surprised and also proud about it. I forwarded this video to my parents and it made them very happy. Finally they could see something real from what I was doing.

Vsya Evropa - it's a fashion magazine, published and printed in Berlin.

Vsya EVROPA addresses an affluent Russian speaking audience – Western European residents and travellers (business and leisure) alike.

One day I reached out at their office in Berlin to get an appointment with the editor-in-chief.

I made a portfolio from my amateur fashion shots and went for an interview. My goal was to collaborate on shooting editorials for the magazine.

The editor-in-chief found my photographs quite interesting and she suggested me to take some backstage photographs during their next editorial. Though I expected to shoot their next editorial by myself but anyway I agreed. I was curious to see how editorials were shot for magazines.

I arrived at the location and met the whole team. Indeed it was a big production. A professional model from the best model agency in Berlin. The photographer flew from Israel and she brought tons of equipment with and many assistants to help her.

During the whole shooting I would observe and study the photographer and her team. I was interested to see who she directs the model, what equipment and what light she chooses for each look. How she chooses locations and build set-ups for every look. How she communicates with the editorial team from the magazine and with her assistants.

I did my job, I took photographs of the making-of process and behind the scenes images.

But I also shot a lot of photographs of the model when she was posing to another photographer. That's why on the photographs above she never looks in my direction.

Few days later I sent all images from the backstage and also some of my favorite shots of a model to the editor. To my surprise they have decided to take some of my photographs into their print issue. They didn't like much what the other photographer shot.

I can imagine how the other photographer got mad about this. But it wasn't my problem and not my fault.

Anyway one month later I bought my first printed editorial at a bookstore and sent a copy to my parents.

Another mission completed.

The editor from Vsya Evropa was so happy about our first collaboration. Some of my backstage images went into the print issue.

Natalia was in a good relationship with one of the magazine's advertiser - Patrick Hellmann. She suggested me as a photographer for his next campaign.

I couldn't believe my lucky star. Few days before I bought my first magazine with my images in it and now I am about to shoot my first campaign for a well-known german brand. And it was a good money too.

I got briefed for the shooting and I got references from the designer and his team. We shot at his house in West Berlin, a big spacious mansion with designer furniture. It was beautiful but very dark. For the shooting we needed to use strobes. I didn't have any knowledge and experience how to use and shoot with strobes.

I had friend Robert who was also a photographer but who had much more experience than me. I asked him to help me by booking the right equipment for the shooting and to show me on the set how to use the lights. He agreed and prepared everything.

We shot together 6-7 images for this campaign. Robert also helped me by retouching the images. My skills were not enough for a commercial campaign.

In the end the client and I were very happy with the results. Later those images were used not only as advertising in magazines, but also at some of his shops in other parts of Europe.

It was a great opportunity to work for a big client. It made me clear that I need to learn more about retouching and the lights or I need to have enough budget to pay for an assistant.

We became good friends with Robert and one day he suggested me to come to work together on a look-book shooting for a famous designer from Berlin Kilian Kerner.

It was a shoot in a photo-studio with 2 models. Big production. Robert was shooting most of the images and I got 3-4 looks. I was learning a lot by observing the way Robert was working with the lights and how he would direct models. Many things were new to me. I made notes and tried some of the techniques by my next shootings.

My portfolio got better and I would send emails to other designers in Berlin offering them to shoot look-books and campaigns for them.

My next look-book was a brand named Redspectiva. I found a great location according to the client's mood-board and we did some photographs outside with a german actor Kai.

One day I got an email from a Berlin-based stylist. He was looking for a photographer for a shooting for one french magazine. He reached out to know if I would be interested. Sure I was.

We shared ideas and references for the upcoming shooting. We had a male model for this story.

In the end we shot some images at my studio and other photographs outside in the streets of Berlin. In 2008 there were not as many tourists as now.

I had the freedom to experiment with the lights and I made some crazy set-up designs for the studio shots. It was fun.

It was also interesting to see how the magazine would make a lay-out for our images and how it would affect the perception of the shooting.

Slowly step by step I was entering fashion world.

I got enormously lucky. Again.

I found a spacious studio with big windows for 45 euro a months just 10 minutes away from my home.
Incredible. It used to be a school before but now classrooms were turned into offices and photo-studios.

Next step was acquiring light equipment. I needed some strobes for my studio shootings.

After some research I decided for a german brand - Hensel. Honestly I had no idea about other producers and types of light equipment.
So I've chosen german quality. It was quite expensive but as a student I could get it cheaper.

2 Heads, beauty dish plus travel bags for my future journeys.

In the next few weeks I was shooting my friends and experimenting with the strobes. Trying all ideas and settings. I wasn't interested in reading the manuals and apply conservative techniques to my images.

I've kept this amateur approach till now and for every shooting I am trying to invent new light schemes and patterns led by my artistic intuition.

In my earliest years I would spend some time by reading articles and books about technical specifics of different cameras and lights. To be honest after first excitement I found it all boring and too complex. I couldn't wait to practice and learn by shooting.

So I've concentrated on 4 basics settings: Censor, Aperture, Shutter Speed and ISO. Through practice with time I got in control of my camera and switched to the manual mode.

Years later I will gain a better understanding of perspective, geometry and how to paint light and shadow with photography.

I've started the project SladkoeNaPotom (SweetsForLater) in Berlin in 2009.
I took inspiration from 2 very popular magazines in Russia at that time Snob & Esquire.

The project "Sladkoe na potom" brings together independent people who live and work both in Russia and abroad. Feeling comfortable and relaxed in different cultures and among different peoples, who speak different languages, they remain closely connected with Russian culture and do not stop thinking in Russian.
Thus, creating a new way of thinking, rules of life, worldview and value system of modern man.

The idea was to interview Russian-speaking photographers, models, stylists, designers and other artists who work internationally.

Some of them:
SVETLANA TANAKINA / VALERIA LAZAREVA / ALEXANDR ROGOV / DMITRI LOGINOV / MASHA RUDENKO / ALINA LEBEDEVA / LYS INGER / ESTHER GUER / JURIJ TRESKOW / SASHA SAMSONOVA / CATE UNDERWOOD / NIKITA MANIN

Most of them I met later and we became good friends.

I registered a website, created it's web design. I prepared the questions for the artists, emailed them and explained my idea. Most of them were happy to participate. Then I edited interviews and published it online.

It also helped me a lot when I arrived in Moscow. I've already had friends from the fashion industry thanks to this project.

___

Проект "Сладкое на потом" объединяет людей независимых и свободных, которые живут и творят как в России, так и за её пределами. Ощущая себя уютно и вольготно в разных культурах и среди разных народов, владеющие разными языками, они остаются тесно связанными с русской культурой и не перестают думать по-русски.

Тем самым, создавая новый образ мышления, правила жизни, мировоззрение и систему ценностей современного человека.

For my project SladkoeNaPotom I did some interviews with models. One of them was Lys Inger from Moscow.
We stayed in touch after the interview was finished and published. After few weeks we got so close so we decided to meet in Amsterdam.

Long story short, we fall in love and I decided to move to Moscow.

I always played with the idea to move to Moscow one day.
I had a very strong connection to Russian culture and history, traditions, literature.
I was spending a lot of time in Belarus and many of my friends have already moved to Moscow and where telling me exciting stories about Moscow. I was intrigued.

My parents couldn't believe it's for real. After moving to Berlin, dropping economics and beginning with photography, now I got a new crazy idea to move to Moscow. Because I fall in love with a girl I've met in Amsterdam and because I think I can earn Money with photography there.

My parents thought Moscow was a dangerous place. It had a very bad reputation. Still crippled with the dark heritage from the 90s.

But nothing could stop me. I met my decision and few weeks later packed my stuff, got the ticket and went to Moscow.

I still don't know where this fatal determination comes from.

Today I can explain this dark side style period in my photography mainly because of my poor technical skills in lightning and operating digital cameras and equipment. It was easy to make dark and even scary images, break the rules and rebel against all norms.

Many photographers go through this phase in their career too. It's almost the same when you start to paint or play an instrument. You just make hectic brush strokes and you are amazed by the abstract pictures starting to appear on a blank pages. Or you press all the keys on an instrument you don't know how to play and find it least interesting. Because it's your own creations and it has a special value to you.

I didn't bother to study instructions and I was playing around with the settings on my camera and my light equipment to get some very crazy effects. It fascinated me a lot.

I was working with amateur models who didn't know how to pose much and sometimes those poses were quite weird. I didn't know much about posing too and honestly didn't know what I want. I had no idea what potential lies in directing models to get your ideas realized.

And also Berlin at that time had this dark energy everywhere. I could sense it from everywhere and incorporate it into my photography.

In the future cities where I would stay would influence a lot the way I take photographs.

And there also was a photographer Chadwick Tyler. I can't say that I liked his work, but it definitely made me react to it. Raw, dark and even frightening images.

I arrived in Moscow in December 2009. Just 2 months after meeting with Lys in Amsterdam.

Through my connections thanks to SladkoeNapotom I could fine a room in a big apartment close to one of the most famous streets in Moscow - Arbat.

All my roommates had an artistic background and were bright personalities. Some of them quite bizarre I have to admit.

Every day and night we had people coming to our apartment and having dinners and parties. All of them were very different and strange, but talented. Photographers, painters, poets, models, journalists, filmmakers, stylists, musicians and designers were among visitors. And I was in middle of it. Enjoying a lot and absorbing everything.

Our apartment was one of the hottest spots for underground life in Moscow.

I guess that in the beginning it helped me a lot in making new connections that I came to Moscow from Berlin. It aroused interest and opened some doors for me. Then everything depends on you. But again I could knock on doors that wouldn't be possible if I wasn't coming to Moscow from Berlin.

Another very important thing that I took out from staying in this apartment is that I could not only just observe how artistic people live and interact with each other but also to transform myself and to adapt some patterns into my life. I saw this life only in movies but now I became a part of it myself.

I realized that if you want to be a photographer you need to immerse in this artistic and bohemian lifestyle and it's 24/7 job.

My girlfriend was represented by Avant in Moscow. One day Lys suggested to me to meet with the agency and if they like what you do maybe to shoot some model tests.
It was also an opportunity to earn some money. Avant paid for tests. They had 2 photographers they worked a lot at that time.

I had nothing to loose and I Avant had great selection on models.
I came into their office and met with the owner.
I showed her my portfolio with images from Berlin. Most of these images were quite dark and too artistic I guess.

I've never shot any model tests before and I didn't know much about it's specifics and requirements.

The owner, Yulia decided give it a try and to organize few shootings. Every week from all Russia arrived many new faces and they all needed to test.

I stayed true to my dark style. I had no other style at that moment. We did around 10 shootings with models from Avant. Crazy images, very weird for model tests.

To my surprise Yulia took most of the tests and paid me cash.

After 3 wild months in Moscow I've decided to move back to Berlin. I was exhausted physically and mentally. Not much money has left and I didn't know what to do next in town. Difficult times in my life.

I arrived in Berlin in the beginning of March with my friends from Moscow. They were visiting Berlin for the first time and we had a lot of fun. We booked a rooms at great boutique hotel, Flowers Boarding House, Berlin Mitte.

Helena that I've already shot in Freiburg was in town so we arranged a shooting at the hotel.

She could organize some outfits for our shooting and did make-up and hair by herself.

I could experience again this muse-effect with her. She inspired me a lot and we took many pictures. We got lost in time and space.

The results were so different to all the previous photographs I've already taken before.

Strong, powerful and very cinematic. La femme Fatale image of a woman came back into my photography. I was telling a story through the images.

I can call it a breakthrough for me and a relief in a way. I felt lost after my stay in Moscow and didn't know where to go with my photography.

After this shooting I got a new motivation and a new direction to pursue.

My dark period in photography was slowly departing from my me and a new style little by little begun to emerge. The manifesting of la femme fatale style.

After spending few weeks in Berlin with no more shootings and realizing that I have nothing to do here I became quite depressed. I lost some kind of a connection to Berlin and felt sad. And I didn't want to go back to Moscow. Moscow was too tough and too challenging to me.

Lys went to Paris to work for the fashion shows.
I got a crazy idea to make surprise her in Paris. I've never been in Paris before. A friend of mine from Berlin flew to Paris a day before and said that I can stay at her huge apartment at St. Paul. in case I want to come. Such an insane coincidence.

Being in love and being together with your girlfriend in Paris in the beginning of spring what could be better and more romantic? I bought tickets to Paris.

Paris instantly robbed my heart from very first moment.

Lys showed me around and I was impressed by all the beauty and architecture. All the streets, buildings, little cafes and restaurants and of course people made a profound impact on me. I fall in love with the city. I was stunned and paralyzed from it's beauty and magic.

Something deep inside clicked and said: I have to live here.

I had a friend Christopher who was a co-owner of one famous international mother model agency. Back in Germany I called him and I told him that I am planing to move to Paris and pursue a career of a fashion photographer.

I did few shootings for his agency and he knew my work.

He asked me 2 questions.

- What is unique about your style?
- Where do you see yourself in 5 and 10 years?

Honestly I've never thought about it. I was just living my life and not thinking much about why I am doing photography and what I want to achieve as a fashion photographer. I didn't have any goals written and no strategy.

So his questions made me think about it. Maybe for the first time ever.

In May 2010 I took a train from my parent's home in Frankfurt to Paris.

Again, my parents were shocked and frustrated about my new crazy adventure.

After moving from Freiburg to Berlin, then 3 years later suddenly I've decided to go to Moscow. 3 months later I am coming back to Berlin for a month and then I have a new destination to Paris.

I got so unpredictable and chaotic. They were really worried about me.

What do I have in mind? Where I am going? Where I am going to stay and how I would earn money?
I couldn't give them any reasonable answers. Again I've listened to my inner voice, to my intuition that told me I need to go to Paris.
After some time my parents accepted it and supported me.

I packed 2 bags, one with my clothes and another one with some light equipment.
My english was broken and obviously I didn't speak french. I had little money just enough for one months rent. And Paris was much more expensive than Berlin and Moscow. A crazy adventure.

In 2010 you didn't have booking.com or Airbnb to find a place to stay.

I arrived at Gare D'Est station and went outside, bought my first fresh french baguette.

The only way to find an hotel room for me was in just going from one to another and ask for a prices and available rooms.

Few hours later I finally could find a room in a shabby hotel. At least I have a place to sleep for the next few days.

Next steps: Appointments with model agencies in Paris and to look for a proper apartment.

I did some model tests in Moscow and got paid for this. So my initial idea was to make some appointments at model agencies in Paris so then I can shoot paid tests for them.

I made a list of all agencies in Paris and sent them emails. Owner of the Avant gave me direct contacts of some bookers at agencies.

Most of the agencies were interested to meet with me. I was surprised.

My first appointment was at Elite Paris. It's one of the best and well known agencies in the world.

I was a quite nervous before entering their huge office at av. Montaigne.

I didn't have any proper portfolio for my first meetings. I printed around hundred photographs from my shootings in Moscow and in Berlin. 10x15cm, postcard size.

They looked through all the images and asked some of their colleagues to join us. They didn't know what to do with me. Some of them told me I better should continue with my artistic work and don't do any testing. But I needed money if I want to stay in Paris. I didn't know how to earn money otherwise.

Most of the model agencies in Paris were paying 150 euros for tests. First test is for free. If they are satisfied with the results then they are ready to pay.

The shooting with Linnea was my first test for Elite Paris. Linnea comes from Sweden and she won Elite Model Look that year.

Honestly I was so excited but at the same time very nervous. I had a problem I didn't have a place where to shoot in Paris.

I wasn't ready to shoot outside. I didn't know city well enough.

Through my concats on facebook I met Katia Kameneva, who is a very famous painter and artist living in Paris.

We met with Katia at her huge apartment at Pigalle. I told her my story about coming to Paris just with 2 bags to became a fashion photographer. We talked for a few hours.

She said that she is leaving tomorrow to countryside with her family and then she just gave me the keys from her apartment and said that I can stay here for the next 5 days.

My story reminded Katia on one of her close friends who also came to Paris 20 years ago. He also was a photographer. So she decided to help me out. Thank you, Katia.

Miracles happen!

Now I have a location where to shoot.

Photographs were still very influenced from my dark side period in Moscow and Berlin.

Very dark and even a little bit demonic. I had a friend from Berlin, a stylist that also moved to Paris recently to assist me and help with the styling.

The final results were quite unusual from what you expect from a model test at that time in Paris. They were different and were shot more like an editorial. Not a regular test.

But in the end agency took some of photographs from this shooting for her portfolio and gave me some recommendations for the next shooting.

So it meant that the shooting was accepted and the next one would be paid. Yes. Another little win.

You can follow my archives on IG.
instagram.com/treskow.archives

With time I got more experienced and understood better rules and expectations from the agencies regarding model tests.

Not all tests I did were accepted by the agencies. Some of them were unpaid.

I always tried to find out why. It helped me not to make the same mistakes again.

To get better I've started to study websites of the agencies and especially their development departments. To see what kind of photographs they need, what lightning, styling and poses they choose for model's portfolios.

It changed a lot my approach to my preparations and shootings.

I begun to create mood boards for tests that I used at the set. I also went to buy clothes at vintage shops for upcoming shootings. I couldn't have stylists who would help for free.

For my upcoming tests mood-boards became an essential part of preparations.

Sometimes agencies would give me specific and individual references on each model. To meet their expectations I would include them into my mood-boards.

Most of the models were new faces and they didn't have much experience in posing infront of the camera. I also had little experience in directing models and my ideas for model tests were limited. Some of them were not speaking English at all. So we needed to find a way to understand each other.

Mood-boards and references became a useful tool to reveal my ideas to models and also show images for different possible poses we could try.

We both were testing and learning. I experimented a lot with lights, lenses and angels. Each shooting took me around 2-3 hours.

I had list for models what to bring for a model test

- high heels
- stockings / tights
- underwear (black), lingerie, bodies
- leather jackets
- coat
- skirts
- black jeans
- leather pants
- black dress
- designer clothes

+ cosmetic bag

I also was shopping at the vintage stores for new items I could use for my tests. Nothing special. Basic stuff. I didn't want to waste too much time for organizing shooting with stylists and make-up artists. So my photographs were not much about fashion but more about models and their personalities and charisma.

I was good at portraits and a lot of girls could get good paid jobs after.

Again I have to mention that it took me a while to get rid from my dark style aesthetics in photography. Still you can see it's influences on my first tests in Paris.

But slowly I could change my style and navigate into the light.

At the same time some of my demonic tests were taken later into some print and online magazine.

It was a good extra outcome from my tests and an opportunity for me to get my work better known.

I still spent much time in Minsk and Moscow during my first years in Paris.
I kept on doing some artistic and personal work. In opposite to "simple" model tests I used crazy styling and not regular make-up for my shootings.

I could have great teams in Moscow to work with. Also because I came from Paris. It was my advantage in a way. Before coming to Moscow I would email stylists and organize some shootings.

Model tests have influenced a lot the way my photography was evolving.

I paid my bills from model tests money. In the beginning I got 150 euros for each test. So to have just enough money for an expensive life in Paris I needed to test often and my tests had to be good to be accepted otherwise I am not getting paid.

With time I've started to adapt more and more to the requirements and expectations from the agencies.

In total they needed 3-5 photographs that they can use for their portfolios from each test. Mostly portraits and full lengths where you can see model's body.

In Paris at that time I was one of the first Russian-speaking photographers. A rare occasion.

But unlike most of Russian photographers coming later to Paris I could work officially with model agencies and give them invoices for tests. As a german resident I had all needed tax-papers.

During almost every test I would experiment a lot with mixing and modifying lights using strobes and natural light. I would use color filters for my lenses to get unusual effects. I also would play around by postproduction and retouching the images.

I stayed in a close contact with the bookers at the agencies to see if they like the results and what I can do to take better photographs. We became friends with some of them.

They often would suggest to me some stylists to work with or share some contacts of fashion magazines. From my side I tried to send them previews from our shootings few hours after the shooting is finished. And I was always quick with the retouching and sending hd images so they can use them for model's portfolio.

I also didn't want to stay in my comfort zone and get predictable. I always was pushing the boundaries to its maximum. Including new techniques and tricks into my photographs.

Slowly my tests became very strong. I've developed my own recognizable style.

Agencies were trusting me to do my magic on models. Mostly new faces but with time I also begun to get models from the mainboard who needed to restart their careers or just update their portfolios with some fresh and strong photographs.

Over time my photographs in Paris became more erotic and seductive in a way.

Parisian aesthetics have affected my photography a lot. Parisian porn-chic style inpired by French Vogue under Carine Rothfield and Numero Paris were determining and setting the tone in fashion photography.

La Femme Fatale image of strong, reckless woman was very welcomed and it continued to manifest itself in photographer further.

I've changed more than 20 apartments during my 5 years in Paris.
I only was looking for short-term locations in the city center. I didn't want to have a cheaper and maybe even bigger place but hours aways from the city. It was essential to me by stepping out of my home enter Parian Life instantly.

Regularly changing apartments helped me to have new locations for my shootings and not to get stuck and bored shooting in the same interior for years.

Plus I also was happy to shoot outside on Parisian streets and work with the day light and it's reflections.

Every time when I was walking for hours in Paris I would take notes and notice locations where I could shoot next time.

And Paris has a lot to offer.

I didn't take a lot of nude photographs in the beginning of my career. I tried several times but I wasn't confident enough and I wasn't happy with the results.

After shooting a lot of model tests in Paris my approach to it has slowly changed.

Paris is a fashion capital in the world was defining fashion photography as well. Photographers like Steven Meisel, Mario Sorrenti, Mario Testino, Ellen von Unwerth, Helmut Newton, Terry Richardson were among those who would include a lot of nakedness into Fashion Photography. Many prominent fashion magazines were not shy to expose erotic photography. And it was beautiful!

Models often would have some semi-nude pictures in their portfolios and it was totally okay and accepted by the agencies and the clients. Fashion industry was more open-minded and took some risks back in the days.

With time I've started to include semi-nude photographs into my model tests and was learning by practicing it.

It took me years before I've learned how artistically to interpret a beauty of a naked body. It's not easy as you think. My goal was to find out how to keep a certain level of aesthetics and not to get pornographic and vulgar.

2013
32 rue Turbigo in Paris.

I've worked a lot with a model agency Oui Managment since their opening in Paris.
One day I got to shoot Lais Ribeiro for my personal work. A Victoria Secret Angel and the super star among top models. Wow. Lucky me! I was dreaming for it.

I was super excited and began with preparations. I got a stylist and a make-up and hair artist.

But I have to admit that on the set I became insecure and almost shaking ... Couldn't say a word and couldn't direct the process. It took me too much time to get control over the shoot. I put too much pressure on myself and couldn't handle it.

Results were very good in the end but not what I was expecting from this shooting and not really what the agency expected from me.

I overdid with preparations and was trying to make an editorial out of a personal work. It was a mistake and a good lesson for me.

Anyway I still love these pictures!

3 years later I got a second chance.
I moved to NYC and started to work with The Lions
I became more confident and I knew better what I wanted for this shooting now.
Confidence comes with time and experience. No rush. Everything has its own time.

We were shooting at my friend's place in West Village in a great spacious triplex. Thank you Olivier!

The team was much more professional this time. And I could direct the whole process from the beginning. I prepared myself very well.

The photographs became more strong and seductive. Lais looks amazing and very very la femme fatale.

____

Follow Archive's on Instagram. I update it almost every day with new photographs from my archives.

I had an opportunity to shoot at some backstages during a fashion show. Fashion week in general is the highlight of the season when designers present their new collections. It was interesting participate on this events

This magic world inspired me a lot and I was happy and proud to belong into this world.

The first shooting with Barbara took place in mid-October, in 2011. My second year in Paris, my second fall. Then I lived in a small apartment near the Luxembourg Gardens, and I did not have the opportunity to shoot in the studio or at home, so I was looking for quiet and interesting streets, squares, and courtyards in Paris.

The weather still allowed me to shoot outside, the autumn was warm. One of my finds was the building of the former huge and famous in the past, La Samaritaine shopping center.

It is located in the very center of Paris, near the Louvre, between Rue Rivoli and the La Seine river.

It is noteworthy that Rue Rivoli is one of the most noisy and active arteries of the city, but after taking just a few steps, you find yourself on a very quiet street, with only one always empty cafe, sandwiched by two buildings of the former store.

The street is one hundred metro long, the walls of the buildings all have a different structure, color, very industrial, which gives a certain feeling of falling into the past and a bit of New York atmosphere, which is rarely found in Paris.

Due to the large number of windows and glasses, light is refracted, creating unique shooting conditions that are very difficult to recreate artificially.

Barbara is from Denmark and has been living in Paris for some time. As it turned out later, we lived in the neighboring streets on the left bank, in the Montparnasse area, and, besides, Barbara rented a room from a Russian girl. A series of accidents began, which may not have been entirely so random.

For me, her appearance, her manner of speaking, the way she smoked cigarettes, smiled, the way her gaze ran during a conversation, her light and hoarse accent in English - it was all such a french, such a French cinema of the 70s, even if she was and a Danish woman.

For the shooting, Barbara brought a lot of things from her wardrobe, which helped a lot to create the images, plasticity and aesthetics of our photographs, very individual and very hers.

Probably, Barbara, by her appearance in that life, became exactly that catalyst, that impetus that gave way to many internal mechanisms of any creative person. Everything started spinning, everything was spinning and inspiration was in full swing. Ideas arose by themselves and the feeling of starting, the feeling that everything was within reach. That state when the eyes shine, when even the breath itself changes its pace, when the heart beats and the body vibrates at its accelerated pace, and when magic warmth spreads through every cell, when everything is clear and understandable, and when you feel that you are you create, you create.


You collect the accumulated experience, everything you saw, heard, felt earlier, and you apply this experience to the present moment and create, express yourself. It is very difficult to explain in words, but this is exactly the state when you meet your MUSA.

We immediately felt each other and, explaining ourselves somewhere in English, somewhere with gestures, but more simply with our eyes, we both understood everything. And because the most powerful shooting is when you do not explain in words what needs to be done, but "lead" the shooting with glances, when words are not needed. This was exactly the case.

Already the first shots, when Barbara lit a cigarette and I made a couple of test shots to check the light on the camera, after seeing the first results, everything became clear. That's it.

Then time, as an independent value, stopped or, on the contrary, accelerated, in general, time lost its matter, its essence, it became invisible. The units of time were the shutter clicks. It seemed to me we filmed for a couple of moments, it turned out that a couple of hours. Almost until sunset.

Trying to remember the details of the shooting itself, I come across a veil, fog, confusion of pop-up images, phrases, sounds, shadows, smells, but I cannot find the clarity and consistency of the shooting. Everything was confused. Words cannot convey this.

Immediately after the shooting, still intoxicated with emotions and impressions, I immediately started selecting photos. Toward dawn, I fell asleep.

A few days later, I showed the results of our first shoot to Barbara. I sent her photographs and hid. Measurement. Not knowing how she would react.

She was delighted. I don't know what the models feel when they look at their photos, what emotions, how and what they see. I do not know. I'm on the other side.

But Barbara said that I could see, show exactly her essence of that moment of her life, her inner world, struggle, hopes, catch her eyes, her thoughts. She even got a little scared from this effect. I felt so open and not protected or something.

Вторую съемку мы решили провести на кладбище Монпарнаса. Оно как раз было в несколько минутах ходьбы от нас. На эту съемку мы взяли только одно платье, хотели проработать один образ.

До этого, снимать на кладбищах я давно не решался и считал, что это не этично, неприемлемо. Но в Париже многие кладбища являются больше музеями под открытым небом. Так что я сдался.

Съемка стала более эротичной, сексуальной, игривой. Больше видно тела, больше поз и ракурсов, больше прямых взглядов в камеру, немного провокационных, к тому же мы снимали на кладбище. Съемка была не агрессивной, не эпатажной, где картинка картинки только ради.

Я бы сказал, может это прозвучит странно, для меня эти кадры, некоторые из них, это нежность, любовь, тепло и волшебство в одной из ее внешних форм, которые ты фиксируешь зрительно, визуально. Будучи и хрупкими, но одновременно как поток сильной реки, которую невозможно остановить, перед которой ты понимаешь всю свою слабость, но не пугаешься, а наоборот набираешься сил, глядя на движущийся волны реки и медленно в нее вступаешь.

И опять на съемке, мы едва разговаривали, пару фраз, осколки. Со стороны могло бы показаться, что мы в каком-то ритуальном танце, в неком трансе, сфокусированные, сконцентрированные. Обострялись все чувства восприятия, но направлены они были только друг на друга. Ничего вокруг мы не замечали. После съемки, после того как ты последний раз сделал кадр, когда к тебе медленно приходит понимание, как сквозь сон, что все - съемка завершена. Ты чувствуешь усталость, которая тебя парализует. И удовлетворение.

Конечно, когда в твоей жизни появляется муза, наконец-то, в конце концов, у тебя на уме только одно - это проводить с ней время, все время быть рядом. Да. Все верно. Но, есть одно но. Муза - это очень хорошо, но когда дозировано, потому что, когда музы в твоей жизни становится слишком много, это не всегда хорошо. Все превращается в яд, который губит обоих.

Будучи соседями, мы с Барбарой несколько раз встречались, совершали прогулки, разговаривали, смеялись, жили Парижем, скажем так. И присматривались. Музу очень хотелось полюбить и любить, гарантировать ее постоянное в твоей жизни присутствие.
Момент влюбленности уже состоялся. Это неудивительно. Состояние влюбленности фотографа в модель во время съемки, это та необходимость, которая помогает раскрыть, увидеть, заметить модель. После съемки обычно это состояние достаточно быстро улетучивается. И так каждый раз.

Поэтому встречаясь не в формате съемки, мы осторожно присматривались, пытаясь понять, как мы оба друг в друге можем вызывать такие колебания, такие эмоции. Потому что, конечно, нельзя сказать, что я был музой Барбары, но я был тем человеком, который смог тогда видеть, увидеть ее насквозь и мог своему видению придать форму, в которой она себя заново переживала. Наши фотографии. То есть я обладал в ее глазах в некотором роде магией, волшебством, силой над ней, которую она не могла контролировать.

Третья съемка.

В то время, я очень много смотрел кино. В частности в очередной раз пересматривал David Lynch. Фильм "Blue Velvet" стал нашей темой нашей третьей съемки. Как оказалось и последней.

Так случилось, что и не удивило меня, нам нравились те же фильмы, та же музыка, те же книги. То есть мы закалялись и формировались похожими источниками, инструментами. Это тоже в данном контексте неудивительно.

Год подходил к концу. Мы оба скоро должны были уехать из Парижа, от этого было грустно. Но это было очень своевременно. Наши отношения заблудились и было какое-то ощущение недосказанности, незавершенности. Какой-то обиды, что мы не смогли что-то построить между нами, вне наших съемок. И беспомощностью перед ходом времени. Третья наша совместная работа стала той необходимой точкой, которая помогла нам обоим продолжить наши пути. Мы выпили тот эликсир нам подаренный до дна.

Съемка очень художественная. Очень кричащая и очень проникновенная. Взгляды, движения, пластика картинок. Она вне реальности мирской. Это абсолютно вымышленный мир. Мир, который мы создали сами и для самих себя, нам лишь понятный до конца. Он пронизан криком. Криком из самого внутри, крик который опережал скорое наше расставание.

Доминируют синий и красный цвет. Именно эти два цвета объясняли нас. Я был - синим цветом. Барбара - красным цветом. И их комбинация, столь сильная, все же не могла существовать вместе. Они сталкивались и рассыпались острыми осколками.

Это было прощай в целую вечность, когда впереди бесконечность.

I intensively was using social media to get new connections for work. I have never hesitated to send a message to a person that I wanted to get known. Stylists, make-up artists, editors, models and photographers.

At the beginning of my career I've sent millions of emails to magazines to start working with them.

Obviously only a very small percentage of all my emails was answered. But it was better than nothing. Slowly step by step I could build my network. It's an important tool to progress with your career.

By showing your work around you can get a feedback from professionals and very often good tips what to do and whom to met next.

" Social intelligence.
Think of it as theater. Become mysterious & intriguing. Play with the public, give them something compelling and pleasurable to witness. Let them project their fantasies onto you. "

This quote made a profound impact on me. I've started to play more and work around my PR and image. It was fun and creative. As a photographer you have to became like a chameleon which can mirror surroundings to reflect on them after.


" Andy Warhol Is Art History's Greatest Myth-Maker. Biographer Blake Gopnik Reveals His True Persona. "
https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/andy-warhol-blake-gopnik-biography-interview-1202684249/

During my time in Paris I was doing a lot of model tests for the agencies. Before fashion weeks. Because models needed new photographs to update their portfolios.

Some models were contacting me directly. Mostly models that didn't have agencies and wanted to make some appointments with them.

Also I got a lot of requests from women that wanted to get some beautiful photographs. Some of them were visiting Paris and this also became a nice memory from their trip.

I've started to shoot for magazines. Because of my good contacts to model agencies I could get good model for my castings. It's important to keep good relationships with bookers and agents.

With time I also started to shoot some look-books and catalogs. Not many but some times it was good money to pay the bills.

I also have continued to shoot portraits with celebrities. It's important for your portfolio to make you more expensive so to say. But in general I was more than happy to get an opportunity to meet people that were inspiring me a lot.

Hi Jurij,
Thanks, for your e-mail.
We here at the magazine like your personal portraits under the selection woman.
The have a sensible and interesting touch.
If you are interested we would be happy to publish a selection of them on http://contributormagazine.com/
Or if you are abut to shoot new ones, publish them.

Thank you!
Antonia
___


First I've started to send my photographs to this magazine to be shown on their website as online editorials. I got more than 10 stories published. It was a great opportunity for me to get broader audience.

They really liked a lot what I was doing and at some point suggested to me to shoot for the next printed issue. Big deal for me.

My idea was to shoot 5 models for them. Stefania Miano was a stylist for this shooting. We worked with her on some personal projects before. It's a big deal to get clothes for a shooting with 5 models. We got tons of packages delivered to my studio. There was no budget because The Contributor positioned themselves as an independent magazine. I had to cover expenses from my own pocket.

I asked Elite Paris to give me good casting. Honestly I had no experience in shooting with 5 models. How to direct all of them and create some strong images where all looks great and sophisticated.

In the end it was a total mess. I mismanaged the whole shooting. With logistics, time management, catering and other important things. I literally was exhausted and had no creative energy to capture good shots.

Editors at the magazine didn't like the images.

____

We are not a commercial magazine, we do not need to "see" full outfits, we want an amazing picture.
Sending over some of our favorites you have done for us before, maybe you did shoot like this as well during the day?
Again, I hope you understand what we mean, we really like your work and hope we can get there with this story as well.

As you know our theme is "try harder", doing thing your own way and never give up.
How would you feel abut giving the story another go, the way you really do your images?

I took the opportunity and organized another shooting with Tania.

Thanks for the pictures! Totally better, great work!
A lot of pictures ; ) I'm going to go throu them with our art director tonight.

___

It was an important lesson to me. First of all communicate with editors / clients. Some bad shootings happens, and it's okay. No drama, no tragedy. Listen to each other and look for a solution. We all can work toward a happy end.

FW was a russian magazine. There were plenty of Russian magazines during this time and Paris was a desired location to shoot.
Mainly because you have all the best showrooms with new collections and you can get good selections on clothes.

I got a cover shot and 7-8 pages story.

The model came 2 hours late for the shooting. Then somehow it took us another 3 hours to finish with make-up and hair and fitting. We could make only one photographer before it began to rain. And it was getting dark too.

I didn't start to panic and decided for myself let's give a try and just shoot.

I got concentrated and focused on get quick solutions for my ideas. We got very nice and cinematic images. I was happy with the results. This story made me more confident and experienced for the future.

Normally you won't be able to convince anybody to shoot under the rain. But this time we didn't have any other options. I took the responsibility and could deliver great results.

And we all had so much fun by shooting under the rain in the middle of the city.

I was looking to shoot for Interview Russia for a very long time. I met with their team in Moscow and showed them my portfolio. I don't think they've got interested much in my work.

Anyway I kept on sending them emails with new work and some ideas for future shootings. I was persistent.

Finally I got a request to shoot for them a story in Paris. It was an advertorial (An advertorial is an advertisement in the form of editorial content) for Calvin and Klein.

As I am based in Paris it's convenient for some magazines to book a photographer from there and not flying him over.
Plus at that time I was represented by the photo agency that can take all production needed.

We got a big studio for this shooting for free and the agency also helped to find team. Through my good connections with the model agency Oui I got Emma Stern Nielsen to shoot.

One day I got a message from Asia, a model I shot few weeks ago in Paris. She was happy to share with me her new appearance in a french magazine. To my surprise it was a photograph from our shooting. Surprise.

Magazine didn't contact me to get the permission to use this photograph. I called the model agency to find out how it could happen. It's not that I was angry, no! I just wanted to clarify things for me.

They agency indeed confirmed to me that they've given this image to the magazine. Without telling my anything. I asked them in the future to inform me. Normally magazine have to pay for the usage. And if they put your name you better know under what image it will stand.

Anyway I was glad about this unexpected publication at Grazie France and went to buy the magazine to save the copy for my archives.

It's a beautiful cover for Marie Claire magazine. Probably one of my favorite commercial cover at the moment. Great portrait and the with the lay-out it looks very strong and juicy.

But this cover was never used for this issue...

Few weeks after the shooting magazine contacted me to tell that they have to use a different image for the cover. Why? They need to swap the dress on the cover. Dior instead of Chanel. And you can't do anything about it. It's all about advertisers and that the way magazine earn money.

I was upset a little bit. I wanted this cover to get published. It's a cool cover.
Model and her agency and all team wasn't happy at all. But it happens sometimes and you should keep on moving forward.

After Numero was launched in Russia I was desperately waiting to start to shoot for them.

I was obsessed with Numero Paris and their iconic aesthetics. I knew that my photography and my style could correspond well with the Russian version of Numero.

But it took more than a year before I got the first opportunity to shoot for them. It was only one page but anyway I took this chance. Step by step.

We shot at a studio for 2 hours. Just to get one image. You need to verify the final image with the fashion director straight at the set.

First of all fashion magazines are about fashion. Clothes have to look great. To make this happen you have to find the right pose and the face expression and the lightning...
Every detail has to be perfect. Clothes have to be sold.

I can't say that this way of working for Numero was exactly what I was dreaming about. I was expecting something else. More creative freedom and more experiments around different interpretations how it could look in the end.

Few months later I got another request to shoot a new lingerie story for Numero Russia. I was very good at shooting lingerie and body shots.

I was very excited about this upcoming shooting. It was a great opportunity to shoot compelling images according to aesthetics of Numero.

I came for this shooting from Paris to Moscow.

During the production some problems began to appear. First the fashion director confirmed the model without even consulting with me. It's not that I am super picky but I think it's very important for a such big shooting to get a model that will sparkle inspiration.

The other problem for me was that despite confirming the main concept for the whole shooting days before at the set the fashion director would change her mind almost for every image. It was a mess. I lost control over the storytelling and couldn't shoot according to my style.

At some point I just gave up and was just executing constantly changing ideas of the editor.

I didn't enjoy the shooting and I wished this all to end as quickly as possible.

I was frustrated and a little bit angry with myself. I felt I've missed a chance to make a great story. I couldn't reveal my vision and just played the role of a photographer who was just pushing the button.

In the end images were okay. Thanks to the art-director and the editor by post production we could find images that could please all sides.

It was another lesson for me to stand for my vision and my style and work on my communication skills to translate my ideas into great images.

I met with Tanya Pinskaya few months after I've arrived in Paris.

She is a journalist and is working with many Russian magazines. For her interview she always needs a photographer to make some portraits of them.

For several years we've worked together on many interviews some of them were with Takada Kenzo, Christian Laubautin, Pierre Cardin, Jean-Paul Belmondo and many many others.

For me it was a great chance not only to photograph all these outstanding people but also just to meet them in person.

Having celebrities in your portfolio gives you more opportunities for pricing your work and good for networking.

A russian magazine from Saint-Petersburg Sobaka asked me to shoot Karina in Paris for their next issue. I've already shot for this magazine several times before.

I didn't know Karina before. She is working for Conde Nast as an executive director for editorial development. Big name in Fashion.

We did some portraits at her beautiful apartment just few meters away from the Eiffel Tower. Karina was in charge of launching Vogue Russia back in the 90s and told me some interesting stories about shootings with Gisele Bundchen and Natalia Vodianova.

Few months later Karina asked me if she can use some of our photographs for her upcoming book.

My first book cover.

Natalia was looking for a right photographer for her new book about healthy and sport lifestyle. A photographer who was able to highlight the beauty of a female body.

I flew from NYC to Paris. We worked for 2 days in raw. First day at her big house close to Paris and on the streets of Paris next day.
and I did around 12 images in total. The shooting was like a big editorial with a stylist and make-up and hair artist.

The production was well organized and we had a great team to implement our ideas. It was great to work with Natalia who let me do my magic and who fully trusted our team.