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ABOUT 

Bio

Ilya D. Genin, MD was born in Kiev, Ukraine, where he lived until his immigration to the United States in 1979. For the last 20 years he has lived in Bucks County, PA. His photographic interests span a variety of themes—including landscapes, portraits, still-life and, most recently, travel photography. Ilya Genin photographs in both color and black-and-white. He has fully transitioned to digital photography in the last six years and does his own post-processing and printing using archival techniques.

Artist Statement

Better than words, light reveals the inner narrative of the objects it illuminates—whether a face, a landscape or an old, worn-out shoe. Photography is an instrument for exploring this process. My photos span many different topics. What unites them is a focus on the imagined hidden landscape, on uncovering what is hidden from view. I believe that the most meaningful photography lays bare the essence of human nature by exploring the emotional and physical landscape we all share: joy in beauty, fear of death, the burn of desire, loneliness, the aging of the body and the will to survive.

I am inspired by photographers who make me think: for example, Joel-Peter Witkin, the contemporary transgressive photographer whose work deals with such themes as death and those on the fringes of mainstream society. You can look at his photographs as if they were a puzzle and try to guess their meanings. I like photographers, such as Hans Bellmer, who photographs dolls, Cindy Sherman, the photographer of New York’s underworld, Diane Arbus, Jan Saudek, Dominic Rouse and others because they probe the dark side of human nature—it helps us understand ourselves. These photographers also interest me because their works are social commentaries—not on their subjects but on society at large. They force the viewer to confront his or her own insecurities and fears, and raise questions which most people would prefer remain unasked and unanswered.