Ilya was born on May 4, 1956 in Cherkassy, Ukraine. He first took interest in photography at 17 years of age when he purchased a Pentacon 35mm camera and built a dark room in his bathroom. Soon after he began taking photographs for the local newspaper and pursued a degree in Photojournalism from the Kiev Institute of Culture. Ilya became consumed by photography and obsessed with capturing people in their most emotional states during climactic moments of their life.

Ilya immigrated to Seattle Washington with his family in 1993. He immediately founded Ilya’s Photography and pursued his passion for editorial photography by freelancing for special events. As Ilya built a wide inventory of photographic equipment he continued to explore and evolve as a photographer. Ilya found new inspiration through his artistic interpretation of aesthetic tangibles such as architecture food and products. Ilya has developed an unparalleled style through his manipulation of lighting, color and space allowing him to create the most utterly sublime frames.

In the past 35 years photography has defined Ilya’s life and his camera has surely become a permanent extension of his arm.