For me, a photo becomes a piece of art, when it combinesthree components: composition, light and emotions. If they all unite in one shot, it means that the photo is good enough and worth of existence. The most important for meis the situation when the watcher, looking at a particular photo, becomes aparticipant of the action, and his own story is born in his imagination. It is especiallyvaluable, when a photographer manages to look through the picture into thehuman soul or convey the mood. Many of my pictures are monochrome. Black-and-white photography allows to concentrate primarily on the emotional component of the picture. It cuts off unnecessary details and focuses the watcher's attention on the most important. A black-and-white photo quite often erases time boundaries. I am interested in street and documentary photography, where the role of staging is minimized and the rule "decisive moment" comes to the fore. The works by Cartier Bresson, Eugene Smith, Elliott Erwitt, Romualdas Rakauskas, Vladimir Lagrange are my favorite ones. Interesting and emotional moments arise in the courseof shooting continuously one after another. The task of the photographer is to foreseeor even to anticipate the next moment, to show up at the right place at theright time. Member of the Union of Photographers of Russia and the Russian Geographical Society.