I’ve practiced photography since 1998. Smena camera, my 13th birthday present, stayed unused for several years until one day I cleaned it from dust and started photographing. In addition to that, I have held in my hands Olympos compact camera, Zenit, Canon EOS 500N, and settled down with Canon EOS3. I’m still in the process of dicovering the utility possibilities of that camera.

I’m basically an autodidact photographer, but I’ve been taught also by Vallo Kalamees, the Grand Teacher, whom I have managed to coax since 1998 in almost every summer to Soomaa to instruct photography camps, and whose photography courses I have attended at Tartu Youth Technics House. Though I majored in Estonian Philology at Tartu University, I also elbowed my way to the courses of photo journalism by Jüri Vendelin ja Kaido Teesalu at the Faculty of Social Sciences. In my future plans there is an idea to go to study photography abroad, to the masters of the field.

My favourite place for being and photographing is Soomaa. My favourite objects are tiny things and creatures and, certainly, people – stout and skinny, old and young, ugly and beautiful, personalities.

So far my greatest achievement has probably been the joint work with Interbrand, an international branding agency from London. Together with Marksteen Adamson, who has also assisted Annie Leibowitz, I took photographs for the „Estonia Transforming!“ project for the creation of „Welcome to Estonia“ – the Brand of Estonia.

I’ve worked for most Estonian leading journalistic publications like „Annabella“, „Eesti Naine“, „Pere & Kodu“, „Trend“ and top-ranked advertising agencies like Zoom, Kontuur, Idea and Ecwador. Together with other photographers from Pärnu County I participated in the compilation of the photo album „Pärnu County and People“ in Spring 2002. Since 2003 I’ve been photographing for the youth book „Me You Me“ in the framework of the project „Hand in Hand“ that is in co-operation with the the M.I.L.K. Book Collection.

Prizes:

1. 2nd Prize at the Tourist Photo of the Year competition by the Estonian Tourist Board in 2000;
2. Marked out at the Nature Photo of the Year competition in 2001;
3. First Prize at the „Estonia Transforming!“ photo competition, 2002.
4. I’ve belonged to the juries of several photo competitions.

Photo exhibitions:

1. "Beings" at Tartu University Library,1998;
2. Review exhibition of EU financed objects in Estonia at the Rural Day of the Movement of Estonian Villages and Small Towns, 2001;
3. "Ukraine. People and Time" at National Library of Estonia, 2003, Sillamäe 2003, Pärnu 2004.
4. "Vanishing Estonian Landscapes. Milk Trestles". Pärnu, Tallinn, Stockholm 2003-2004

Technology that I use:

• Canon EOS3

Lenses:

• Macro lens Sigma EX 105mm/1:2,8;
• Tele lens Sigma EX 70-200mm/1:2,8;
• Portrait lens Canon EF 135mm/1:2;
• Standard lens Canon EW 24-85mm/1:3,5;
• Canon 550EX Speedlite Flash;

From among colour films I prefer Fuji Colour Negative Films and Kodak slides, from black-and-white films I use Kodak T-Max series.