Before I got into photography I spent over 20 years in ballroom dancing. I had a perfect career as a professional dancer but in 2006 I suffered a serious injury and was not able to continue dancing anymore. I was depressed and broken. To save myself from going crazy I decided to study at one of the famous film universities in Moscow as a director of photography. The course required a photography background and therefore decided to go into photography first. It was the year that the first governmental school of photography named after Alexander Rodchenko opened. All the professors from the film university were teaching at that school as well. During my two years there, I fell into photography and I made the decision to commit to it as my only form of artistic expression, instead of cinematography. I’ve stayed true to this commitment to this day.