Cumming Selfie. Fedya Painting

FEDYA ILI b. 1980 in USSR. Based in Berlin. Do you remember those kids whose parents were always on the move? Every few years a different city. The children would seem different…more worldly, mature and possibly somewhat detached. I was one of those kids. Not to say my childhood wasn’t a happy one – it was. I have fond memories of watching my father developing photographs in our very own dark room. Maybe that’s where my lens began to develop, too. City to city, culture to culture. Who were these new people before me? What made them tick? How could I frame this? Snap, solution, chemistry…an image forms. What does it say? I never lost the wanderlust and the love of imagery. Moscow, Paris, Munich, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Thailand, Kiev, Lisbon, Saint Petersburg…I’ve spent the last eighteen years as an international art director, working in publishing and design. Let’s focus the lens again. In 2012 I decided to work exclusively in fine art and photography. I take my inspiration from the greats – Leonardo, Caravaggio, Rodin and Mapplethorpe – and then I translate: The body, how we feel, how we move, place and create. What do I see before me? What shall we say? Let’s take a trip with a simple snap… Solution, chemistry, focus the lens and our image forms. Let’s create. Works in private collections in New York, Miami, Philadelphia, Paris, Berlin, Hamburg, Chicago, Bangkok, Rio-de-Janeiro, Buenos Aires, San Remo, Munich, Cologne, Riga, Minsk, Kiev, Kazan, Los Angeles and Moscow. Publication: Mein Schwules Auge, TETU, Du&Ich, BLU, BUTT, Pagina 12, MascularMagazine.