“I believe that photography saves happy memories from the past:
I enjoy living in the present and trying to find the best moments from the past with all charming peculiarity” .
​​Alexander Ivashkevich
…and his Beginning
Alexander Ivashkevich is a fine art photographer, with his own very special style that became well-known among art connoisseurs in different countries across the world.
The charming combination of an explorer and an artist, who strives to capture human beauty and discovers the uniqueness of every face and body. He loves to say that beauty is not in eternal youth, but in the wealth of the inner world of the person. He has been figuring out this mystery for more than fifteen years of fine art photography experience within artistic, psychological, vintage, family portraits, and boudoir series.
Artistic Style
The artist’s interest in fine art and photography was further instigated by his life-long career in the dramatic theatre sphere. Photographer's attitude is rooted not only in the artist’s desire to investigate the personality and even the mood of the model but also in a determination to challenge the status quo. His profession allows him to wake up and tease the forgotten feelings that often blend into the background. Photo shooting is a continuation of acting and communicating with the audience, it is not just acting work, but rather directing. He states that photography is bridging gap between inhalation and exhalation. To catch the right moment means to catch some real sense of human nature.
Inspiration
“I believe that people nowadays need to feel the world much more sophisticatedly than our modern everyday life offers. 
The photoshoot process takes place on an artistic level that allows creating an opportunity for a model to rediscover themselves within the studio space and to find new emotional depths.
And the most encouraging reaction to my work is the phrase “I have never felt this way before!" That's exactly the moment when I realise that I am doing the right thing, and my inner desire to shoot and to explore different sides of humanity is growing extremely” – says Ivashkevich.
World-known famous painters of the past centuries inspire him very much and their vision of natural human beauty is consonant with his sense of the world today.
Message through Artwork
The opportunity to feel different is worth a lot. When the viewer sees such "deep" faces, he imminently wishes to understand what is happening at the present moment, what has happened before, and what could happen after the creation of this picture. The viewer is examining the inner storyline that is hidden in the picture. That is the power of photography – to present a riddle. That is exactly what makes a person stop in front of the photos and take a longer and deeper look at them. The mystery of the human soul cannot be represented by standard smartphone filters.
Challenges
The time during the photo sessions flies unnoticed. People are not just posing in front of the camera, but they have an insightful experience, exploring their potential and revealing new facets. Life is sparkling with colours and you feel an irresistible desire to become better and to listen to your inner world.
Working with Models
For many people posing is one of the most difficult and challenging components of the whole process of a photo session, but usually only when it is controlled, or better said guided.
To reveal the character of a model, to show their personality, to highlight individuality, gentleness, or sexuality – completely different tasks in each photo shooting session. Portrait photography is interesting because of its suddenness, that’s why I am convinced that we should avoid the “special posing”. A person needs to naturally find a suitable pose and this is often born from a particular situation itself. 
“The most important thing for me during a photo shoot is to show the inner potential of a model despite her age. The roles and characters are created specially for each person participating in a photo shoot. This inner potential is revealed during a photo session and opens the hidden emotional capacity of a person. Moreover, that is a superior opportunity to look at yourself from the outside. 
That is a secret ingredient. It is so exciting to create a unique personal story. As a result, besides portraits, I feel a rush of adrenaline – that makes me work with people again and again after seeing their reactions.
Unique Technique
Most of the photos are framed individually and decorated with the French technique of verre églomisé (application of both a design and gilding onto the rear face of glass), which creates exclusive pieces of fine art. 
"I was learning about this technique for a long time, I was looking for information about it, talking to other artists and investigating, and finally I have found my own approach to this technique which allows me to present my works to the viewers with my special style and this opens new designer and photographer’s possibilities to me."
Exhibitions and Awards
He is currently working on an exhibition that is called “Today’s look from the Past''. This exhibition is a continuation of a project started in 2020 as a series of vintage psychological portraits of ordinary people, our contemporaries living around us, people of different professions, ages, destinies, and characters, who are united by emotional immersion in another era.
From 2021 collaborates with PhotoVogue global project (Condé Nast company).

In 2022 the photo work “Portrait of a Woman'' was short-listed in People & Portrait Photography Section at VIEPA (Vienna International Photo Award 2022), and included in Honorable Mention Pictures.
In 2022 the photo work “Untitled” was awarded the 1st prize in a virtual exhibition “Pictures at an exhibition” organized by Brouhaha Art Gallery in Hong Kong.
In 2022 the photo work “Josephine” was awarded the 3rd prize in a competition organized by Bruxelles Art Vue Foundation.
In 2022 photoworks “Stranger”, “Expectation” and “Girl from a French Cafe” were included in Honorable Mention in Free Subject Category at EPEX (Espana Photo Exhibition 2022) during Competa Photo Days.
His photo works are published in Estonian press and International photo magazines.
Full list of exhibition is available on Exhibitions page.
CV/BIO
Alexander Ivashkevich
Born in 1960 in Tbilisi, Georgia
Lives in Tallinn, Estonia from 1985
Languages: Russian, Ukrainian, English
Education:
1996-1997 Ballet Arts, Broadway dance center (New York, USA)
1993 Woodpeckers Tap Dance Center (New York, USA)
1978-1982 The Arts College: cinema and theater acting, stage movement, singing, dancing, and fencing (Kharkiv, Ukraine)
Photography:
From 1998 - ongoing learning-by-doing, different online & offline courses, and actively practicing photography. Working as a movie actor helped me to find a new approach to psychological portraiture.
Collaborations:
MGM Aria Hotel/Casino (Las Vegas, USA)
Vene Teater (Russian Theater, Estonia)
Kroonika Magazine (Estonia)
Clothing Brand YEAR (Estonia)
Nanoasia & Bellapierre Cosmetics (Estonia)
Workshops:
2021 Beauty and Psychology in Photography.
The idea of the event was to introduce to the people whom he is photographing how psychological and acting techniques that he implements during the photo sessions affect self-perception and reveal the most unexpected and deepest sides of the model. This workshop gave people an opportunity to try different looks and learn how to find the uniqueness in themselves, and not just be able to pose in front of the camera.