About

Hello, my name is Ilya and I live in the metro area of Minneapolis, MN and I am an engineer by day, photographer by night, and the rest of the time I’m not at work. Photography is my hobby as well as my profession, I spent the past few years working for my University in the University relations department as a student photographer as well as doing freelance work in the metro area while I was in school. I quit both of those jobs after I graduated and continued my media efforts at Face Forward – Humanity Through Art, which is a Minnesota-based nonprofit which is expanding into Miami, FL and California. They are primarily known as an artist education nonprofit as well as a vehicle for artists to express their voice in society. I also like to work with my good friends at Infinitree Media, a local media and event production company based out of Northeast Minneapolis. I make videos, photos, and all kinds of creative endeavors with them. For my professionally commissioned work I tend to shoot digital and for my personal work I try to shoot film when I can help it. Film photography is where my roots are, and where I feel at home.

In 2016 I released a book project called Creative Combustion which was released with an exhibition at local art space Gamut Gallery.

This blog will feature a variety of photography, most of it involving people. Whether it be street photography or a shoot done on location or in a studio, if it has people involved, I’ll try it. I’m not afraid to step outside of those boundaries, however.

Creative Combustion is available in book format here and online here

The Face Forward website can be found here

The Infinitree Media website can be found here

Many photographers seek to make something new or groundbreaking with their work, I just want to be honest with mine