I'm born in Russia in a village on the coast of the Sea of ​​Japan. The sea itself that always catches the attention of divers and underwater photographers from all over the Soviet Union.

I started with underwater photography recently, in 1998, with a simple underwater "boom box" "Canon" and "Epic".
Then a "Nikonos-5", complete with wide-angle and close-up.
The first trip to the Red Sea, with colorful fish .. The first attempts to make the macro and the knowledge that this equipment was not good.

A series of Japanese good luck charms, called “Daruma”, are lined up ahead of the major national elections November 9, 2003 in Takasaki, Japan. The Daruma is said to bring exceptional good luck in all walks of life, but is used especially during election time by all candidates. People think that if they face a difficult situation, as symbolized by the doll that returns to its original position when knocked over, they will always bounce back. (Photo by Koichi Kamoshida/Getty Images)

British Waters Wide Angle category runner-up. Grass snake swimming along a garden pond by Jack Perks (UK)in Nottinghamshire, UK. “I’m always on the lookout for unusual freshwater subjects and grass snakes are a species I’ve been after for years. I was told about a pond where the odd grass snake hangs around the lilly pads for frogs. I put my drysuit on and got into the water and could see one slithering along the surface. Slowly making my way towards it with my head only just poking above I got the spilt shot”. (Photo by Jack Perks/Underwater Photographer of the Year 2019)

Bronn, a Dutch shepherd, launches 22 feet, 6 inches, during the Dock Dogs Outdoor Big Air for the GoPro Mountain Games, Thursday, June 9, 2022, at Lionshead Village in Vail, Colo. The big air is always a crowd favorite as dogs can fly nearly 30 feet in distance through the air. (Photo by Chris Dillmann/Vail Daily via AP Photo)

Alejandro Zelayaran, 43, dressed as Santa Claus, wears a protective face shield as he poses for a photograph on a street in Mexico City, Mexico, December 3, 2020. “Faith and hope must move the heart of the humanity”, said Zelayaran, who will don a face shield when he distributes dolls and other gifts at an orphanage in Mexico City. “I want to see families taking care of each other and knowing that even from afar, love and hope always survive”. (Photo by Edgard Garrido/Reuters)

In this November 11, 2017 photo, children dressed in traditional outfits play during the Azorean Culture Festival which celebrates the culture of the Azores, the Portuguese island chain in the mid-Atlantic, in Enseada de Brito, in Brazil's Santa Catarina southern state. “We have to make sure that our culture always stays alive, not let it die”, said Andre Cordeiro, who leads one of the singing and dancing groups that performed this year. “We are able to pass it on from generation to generation”. (Photo by Eraldo Peres/AP Photo)

Tuvalu Beneath the Rising Tide by Sean Gallagher, Tuvalu. Changing environments prize: Fallen trees lie on a beach as the waves from the Funafuti lagoon in Tuvalu lap around them. Land erosion has always been a problem for the South Pacific country but problems are intensifying as sea levels rise. Rising seas are on the verge of completely submerging the tiny archipelago’s islands. (Photo by Sean Gallagher/CIWEM Environmental Photographer of the Year 2019)