Hey Sergei, I am so excited that I can finally feature you on this blog. So, please tell me how did you get into photography? Did you consider to become a photographer when you were small?
I love travelling and seeing the world, and my photography evolved from a desire to capture a little bit of each place that I've visited and serve as an eternal, unfading memory of the sights and experiences I've encountered. I've always been a very visual person, so while I may not have known what (or rather, whom) I wanted to be at a young age, I did always have a creative disposition and a love for aesthetics.
I have to say, I am madly in love with your landscape/architecture photos. So, what kind of photography do you like to shoot? Are you planning to explore other kinds of photography in the future?
As I mentioned, I started doing mostly travel and urban photography. I'm a city boy at heart and I love huge cities and all that's within them - the people, the architecture, the culture. Eventually, I realized that most of the work that I really loved were portraits and editorial fashion, and I started teaching myself new tricks and trying those out for myself. I still love to catalogue my journeys whenever I travel, but I realized that in order to work in this industry, I need to do more commercial assignments. I do my best to infuse even the most commercial projects with my own aesthetic and taste, but there is always some give-and-take between being an artist and making money.
As an aside, I also do a lot of more conceptual and personal work. I often see beauty in everyday moments and things, and I love being able to catch that in an image. It probably seems quite random to people sometimes, but everything I put out has some sort of meaning to me and I put a lot of thought into every photograph.
I'm hoping to try shooting film sometime soon, because I simply love the vintage feel. I have two old film cameras that belonged to my father and grandfather that I brought here from home in Lviv, Ukraine. One is a Soviet Zenit-E 35mm camera that my dad used throughout my childhood and the other an ancient German Welta 120mm folding camera that my grandfather bought in World War II. I'm not sure if they still work, but I am anxious to find out!
To be honest, I am very excited to see you shoot in film because I think your style fits perfectly with film. Do you have any photographer in mind that has influenced your shooting style?
This will probably sound really bad, but honestly, I don't follow a lot of famous photographers. I appreciate photos for what they are, not for who took them. If I had to name somebody famous, I'd probably say that I love the work of David LaChapelle for his unique, risqué, candy-coated masterpieces. I actually enjoy a lot of lesser-known photographers that I have come to know online. There are some truly talented folks out there that always inspire me to become better. There are so many that I don't want to name names and leave anybody out.
I do realize there are a lot of talented photographers on flickr and this is probably why I can spend hours on that site. Well, you have done many editorials for several magazines, which one do you think can best reflect your style?
To be honest, I don't think that my fashion editorials reflect my style in the best way, yet. I'm still quite new to editorial and commercial work, and I still have a lot to learn before I can really express what I want to say with these photos. For now, I'm just focused on making them look good. I'm not really sure if I even have a personal style, or at least I can't tell what it is, personally, but if somebody really wants to understand me and get a sense of what I like, I would say that my self-portraits and urban photos can best reflect that.
Your self-portraits definitely have that magically attraction that will make people want to look at them for a long time. I know that you have just published your first photography book, what is it about and where can you order it?
Yes! I'm quite excited to have (self)-published my first photo book called Noir.
I've always been enthralled and mesmerized by the mysterious yet raw, stark and timeless quality of black & white photography. What we lose from the lack of colour, we gain in some unexplainable emotional pull. Because of this, I wanted to dedicate my first book to this fascinating niche in photography. This book is a look at some places around the world in black & white. It's 60 pages, filled with photos and many of them have never been seen before!
You can order it on Blurb (http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1238958)
I have seen the online preview of your book and it looks great! I am sure people reading this will want to get this book now. Last but not least, If you could do a photoshoot with someone famous, who would you want to shoot and what kind of shoot do you want to do?
The celebrity that I would most love to shoot would be Mariah Carey. And before you roll your eyes, I'll explain why. I grew up in the early 90s around my older sister with our home always filled with the sounds of Whitney Houston, Take That and Mariah Carey. I can't say I was a fan at that point, but I guess it must have sunk in subconsciously. When I moved to Canada in 1997 without speaking a word of English and not knowing anybody, I found solace, comfort and strength in none other than Mariah Carey. More specifically in her album that came out the same year, Butterfly, in which she sings of being different, not fitting in, all things I could relate to, even with my poor English. In her I saw somebody who overcame all that, and it inspired me to do the same. I've loved her ever since.
I think she's misunderstood and gets a bad rep, so I would love to shoot her one day and create something beautiful and different for her, that would help people see her in a different light. With that I hope to give something back. Perhaps that sounds cheesy, but it's true. And the truth is, I am cheesy anyway.
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It's time to see what he likes to discover more of his personality.Rome or Paris?
Paris! In fact, I'm moving there in September!
Kate Moss or Naomi Campbell?
I'll be brave and cover my head from the impending cell phone coming my way, but Kate Moss. Not a fan by any means, but I like her look, it's very British. Tyra beats them both, if only for her craziness!
Prada or Louis Vuitton?
I like the simplicity and classic style of Prada.
Cheese or Chocolate Fondue?
Chocolate!
Egg Yolk or Egg White?
As a kid I turned myself off eggs because I always pictured it being a baby chicken, and that remains until this very day. But probably egg white, because you can make all kinds of delicious deserts with it!
Fergie or Lady Gaga?
Definitely not Fergie. Even though I think Gaga is a bit overrated, I do like her, and I appreciate her creativity and desire to push the boundaries.
Black or White?
Black AND White, because I love B&W photography, and I also think there needs to be a balance of darkness and light, Yin and Yang, good and evil. But if I had to choose sides, I'd definitely be white.
Desaturated or Saturated Photos?
Neither or both. It depends on how well it's done, and if it's fitting and appropriate. I do like the vintage effect that (subtle!) desaturation brings.
Film or Digital Camera?
I shoot only digital at this point, so that's all I know. But I love the look of film.
Rabbit or Dog?
As animals, the Chinese calendar, or food? Cats! I have a kitty and I love her (even though she gives me allergies!). I also appreciate the independence, strong-will and fighting spirit of felines.
Thank you so much to Sergei for taking his time to answer my questions and it is truly entertaining when I read his answers. As you know, he will be going to Paris soon so here I am hoping him all the best when he goes there and make sure to take more amazing photos for us to see! All photos are courtesy of Sergei Yahchybekov and you can see more of his photos here. You can also follow him on twitter here.
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