Philosophical Photography by Alyona Chernyakhova

Alyona Chernyakhova is a photographer from Ukraine. She creates philosophical photography that inspires. It has been a pleasure for us to take an interview with Alyona Chernyakhova who shared some interesting facts of her biography. We wish you a pleasant reading of Alyona Chernyakhova success story and viewing of her philosophical photography.

AP: Tell us some words about yourself.

AC: My name is Alyona, I’m a simple Ukrainian girl 🙂 I was born in the western Ukrainian city, called Uzhhorod. I was studying in Kyiv and graduated from the faculty of marketing. Now I work in sales and photography and it is rather my hobby, than a job. Except taking photos, I love dogs, traveling, red poppies, babies and smell of petrol. In future, I dream to travel, to see different countries, cultures, ways of living, to discover and understand this world better.

I want to see our world a better place and I’m making my small impact by organizing and participating in different social projects. I believe that all that we give to this world will return back to us, so that’s why it’s better to do good things and think only positive!

AP: Your first works. What did they look like?

AC: I started taking fotos at 15. Only few people had digital cameras at that time! I remember it was Olympus, it had 2 mega pixels. But for me till now, some of those photos are in my top-list. They are like breathe for me 🙂 In that time, I had 10000 ideas in my head. I was taking photos of everything that surrounded me… Then I used first graphic editor, it was like “a new world” for me, I was so excited! I showed my photos to friends – they all liked them and told me to continue with that. I remember in university my photos were also very popular. I received huge support from many people. So, 2 years ago I bought new camera and I’m still in photography, I’m catching moments and observing the world around. To create – I love it!

AP: Do you have any formal education in your sphere or were you self-taught?

AC: No, unfortunately, I don’t have any education in photography… I was learning on my own, played with camera, with settings, read few books, articles, asked advises from professionals.. But I can say that mostly I’m driven by my intuition and inner feelings. I just feel the photo and that’s all, I dont know how to explain it…:-)

AP: Tell us about the genres you tried yourself in. Were there any difficulties?

AC: I can’t tag my photos with one specific genre. Yes, I like to experiment, and for me photo should be filled with some message, feeling, idea or emotion… something that will stop person’s attention for a while and will cause some emotion inside. Talking about difficulties, I remember I faced with some when I was taking photos of children for graduation albums. It was my first time when I worked with lights, flashes and umbrellas and I was not so much educated about it… But everything finished well:-)

AP: How would you describe your works?

AC: We all are different and we look different at the same things. So that’s why I think each person can describe my photos on her/his own way! Ideas in my photos are different, but I want people to see a message, a story behind my photo… It shouldn’t be real story, just imagination… And also I have one specific set of photos, they are connected with red poppies. As it is my big passion, I feel very happy to capture them with my camera 🙂

AP: What kind of equipment and techniques do you use?

AC: As photography is my hobby, I don’t have much professional equipment… My camera is Canon Rebel XS, I have kit lens and 50mm/1.8. For processing photos I use Photoshop

AP: Would you consider yourself as an expert in this sphere?

AC: No, I wouldn’t consider that. I would like to become professional, but for achieving this I have to devote all my time and resources there. At the moment it is not my 1st priority, but I’m plannig to work on it in future.

AP: What is your success formula? What do you do to reach your goals?

AC: Formula is easy – just to love what you do and enjoy it! I participated in few contests, last one was from WWF about our environment. I didn’t win the first place, but I won a prize, it was energy-saving lamp 🙂 It is trifle, but it made me happy. Also next weekend my works with poppies will be presented at art-festival “Kredenc” (http://idea-kredenc.blogspot.com/)

AP: Is there someone who helps you in your creativity?

AC: I think, inspiration and talent are coming from God. He gave me eyes to see, ears to hear, heart to feel and to love and that’s enough for me to create. And I’m thankful to parents and friends who support me. I have one special friend from India, I call him Piton, and he always believe in me and supports me, that moves me ahead.

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