My dear reader, it’s been a couple of months since my last update and finally, I am back in my studio from a month-long trip in February to start working on new photographs.
Preamble
So, what has taken me so long to send this update? Well, upon coming back I was occupied with new work that I am taking on, which will most likely result in less frequent updates and perhaps fewer new photographs. Despite this, I truly believe that with scarcity comes greater quality! This means that you will see less work published, but each piece of much higher quality, because it will allow me to truly focus on the best of the best and dedicate my time only to the worthy ones.
So, what this new work is all about anyway? Long story short, after a decade in Silicon Valley working at the biggest tech companies–Google and Uber, I was really burnt out and took a few months to rest, leaving my job at Uber behind. These several months were the most incredible ones in a very long time and I had such an amazing time just being alone with nature and my camera. I also had plenty of time to think. Imagine spending a few months just with your own self, thinking, talking to yourself, especially during those long cross-state drives? This made me realize that I really have two passions in life, both of which grew in me almost organically, with no external pressure whatsoever–engineering and art. I started programming when I was 7 years old, and I picked up my first camera at 16. Essentially, two parts of the brain cooperating, despite how crazy it sounds. In my case, I realized, that in my work one cannot exist without the other, instead, they feed upon each other constantly. When I am working on complex systems and solving hard engineering problems I approach it as if I am creating something new and tangible, like a piece of art. It is really important for me to think this way in the process in order to achieve greater results. Likewise, when I am working on a photograph, I am often driven by the process, the subtle details, experimentation with different techniques and subjects, novelty, and perfectionism, all of which are great companions to have if I am working on some new piece of technology. By now, you should probably already see that the one pattern that is prevailing across both of these dimensions is - my drive for innovation. I realized it so clearly during this trip, that there is no more doubt left for what I should pursue next. This is why I decided to go back in tech, and this time with greater clarity and determination to build something really incredible in the next decade or so. And while constant innovation and technology feed my inner curiosity and ambition to create value for a lot of people, art and photography will continue to feed my soul and wellbeing.
The Story
The story of this trip begins on February 5th, the day I hit the road with plenty of new ideas and a ton of unanswered questions in my head. In the process, I recorded a lot of behind the scene videos, shot many rolls and sheets of film, which will take me months to process and publish, and discovered some new locations that I fell in love with and would certainly want to come back to at some point. A friend and colleague of mine, Vladimir Zaytsev, who also happened to be a very talented cinematographer, joined me in the middle of the trip to shoot a short feature film, so stay tuned for that one.
The overall trip spanned across Washington, California, Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico states, and included Death Valley, Joshua Tree, Zion, Saguaro, and White Sands national parks.
I have been experimenting with new film and subjects on this trip so much, that at times it felt like I am chasing a tail that I am not yet capable of catching. I was constantly trying to push myself outside of the canonical boundaries into a white space filled with scattered ideas and no concrete plan of execution. At times it felt quite stressful but also rewarding when I was able to work something out. Some experiments turned out to be quite successful actually, and some are a complete disaster, but nevertheless provided a great source of learning.
I have also found myself using my Hasselblad 501cm camera quite a lot on this trip, probably more than ever. I shot dozens of rolls of film, trying to capture not only artistic subjects but also some rare roadside moments, which in the future may lead to a new series. Take a look at some of them below. Of course, this is just a tiny fraction just to give you a glimpse.
To my own surprise, I found myself shooting quite a lot of Polaroid as well. Remember those funky instant cameras? I think I shot 10 or so cartridges of instant Polaroid film which I will be making a series of at some point.
It is really hard to describe in just one letter how many remarkable moments and stories happened during that month on the road. I will break them up into smaller and more digestible letters over the next few months, and hopefully will be able to continue publishing on a weekly or at least bi-weekly basis.
On this note, this post slowly transitions into a final third. Thank you for reading this far!
The End
Wait, this is not the end! This is just the beginning of so many new and exciting things in both realms of my new work in the technology sector and art.
I would like to end this post with a reminder to myself:
Photography is the most incredible tool I ever had at my disposal that constantly allows me to look inside myself and ask really hard and important questions. My photographs are the reflections of this process.
