Hi there, thanks for visiting :)
My name is Svetlana. I was born in a small town in Russia, next to Volgograd (former Stalingrad) and moved to London in 2006.
It all began when I was ten years old and my parents got me a copy of a GEO magazine. That edition was about Papua New Guinea and it blew my mind: the vibrance of colours, the diversity and richness of culture captured by those images… I could almost hear the drumming and feel the excitement of observing sacred ancient rituals as I would do in person. Back then I realised that I want to be a travel photographer.
I visited 46 countries to date and each affected and inspired me in its own way: Jamaica taught to count your blessings; India enriched with ancient wisdom; Thailand taught to be patient and live in the present moment. Cambodia opened my heart; while Philippines reminded that whatever you do, it has to come from your heart.
Myanmar gave me a massive creativity boost and an introduction to portraiture, the area I didn’t previously explore as much. Papua New Guinea and Ethiopia reinforced my belief that we are all interconnected in the Universe, these were the places that woke up my passion for portrait photography. There was a mixture of life and photography lessons and I’ve been learning on every journey and creative project, big or small.
When travelling around Asia, my friends invited me to spend a week in a quiet island of Philippines. One evening we’ve been talking about once-in-a-lifetime journeys and Mike, a photographer for the National Geographic, started showing the pictures from his trip to Omo Valley, Ethiopia.
That’s when I decided that it will be my starting point in exploring Africa, the continent that fascinates and inspires me the most. Few month later I was on the new journey to the Cradle of Humankind.
Shortly after I upgraded my old Canon 70D to 5D Mark IV and dedicated all the spare time and energy to learning everything about photography to the point of obsession. Two month later I returned to Ethiopia and was living with the tribes of Omo Valley again, camping in their villages and participating in a daily life, they became my family.
Few words about ethics. I promote and encourage sustainable travelling by going to the less travelled destinations away from luxury and fully immersing into the local culture; always ask a permission before taking a picture and giving a generous tip after. If the “model” doesn’t like the picture or didn’t come out well- it gets deleted/ retaken immediately. I never post pictures showing people in unfavourable light and treat everyone as I would like to be treated myself: fairly, with love and respect. My ultimate aim is to pass the feeling of unity and love to the viewer through my photography. Thanks for visiting again and feel free to reach out if you want to collaborate, have any questions or just to say Hi :)