About Me
My name is Sergei Kovalenko. Although I do not have a formal education in photography, it's been always my passion. I got interested in photography a long time ago, when I was still a teenager. Those days I spent all of my summer vacations at my grandparents' in a remove Russian village. It was one of the thousands of sad little villages that were doomed to disappear, like many others around it. There were only five houses left in the village and they all were occupied by older people whose children moved out to live in the cities. A line of electricity, one phone line shared by the whole village, and two TV channels were about the only signs of civilization. There were not even a store or a paved road and the village was surrounded by wild marshes and forests.

I absolutely loved spending my summers there. There was a sense of unique tranquility and simplicity of life that could not be found anywhere else. But there was also a sad sense of close extinction that was awaiting such lifestyle. I think it was then I first realized that photography is something that could preserve that lifestyle in memories of people.

That's how I got my first camera and started to learn the art of photography. I used black and white film and developed my own prints in my parents' bathroom (which got ruined by chemicals quite fast). I was fascinated by the process of making my own prints. That moment when you see the image appearing on a piece of paper swimming a tray with "magical potion" was absolutely amazing! Nowadays, when I finally switched to all digital process, I still miss that feeling. However, I greatly enjoy the freedom I got from the digital process, which allows me to produce thousands of images so that later I can pick a perfect few.

When I was browsing through my numerous photo albums, I felt that my photographs were telling a story which I wanted to share with my relatives, friends, and other people. That is why in year 2000 I created this online gallery. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that many people were visiting my gallery daily and many of them found time to write to me about it. Often people thanked me for helping them to bring back their own memories about the places I visited and photographed. Some also asked me for a permission to use my images in publications, other web pages, or even as a wall art, which I am always glad to give.

The gallery that you see now is a result of my close to 20 years of experience. I am still very much interested in photography and even contemplating adopting it as my future career. For now, however, it is still just a passion and it may stay that way forever. I am still thrilled about an opportunity to share my photos with people. Although my prints are now available for purchase, feel free to download them on your own, for printing, use in your web pages, presentations, and other projects. I would appreciate if you gave me the proper credit by mentioning my name and the address of this web-site.

Please enjoy my gallery and feel free to contact me by writing an e-mail to
sergei@100photo.com or by using this Contact Form.

 

Thank you for visiting!

Sergei Kovalenko.