Hi! I’m Ilya Fomin, I shoot nude and boudoir.
At this point I often hear *tu-tu-tu*
“Not photography — some kind of absurd”
Honestly, I don’t really like talking at length about photographic style. It feels much cooler to describe what I do like this:
“I just do what I enjoy — I shoot who I enjoy, where I enjoy, and with the gear I enjoy.”
Sounds more interesting, right?
My shoots are usually a mix of a party, азарт, mischief, and a touch of madness…
Why I only love creating under TFP conditions
A quick recap: TFP is when the photographer and the model invest not money, but their time and energy to create something truly great.
For me, commercial work and creativity are like fire and water. In the first format, you’re bound by rules and expectations; in the second, you’re free to experiment, surprise, and reveal the full depth of your talent.
Minimal post-processing
“All the things we don’t like about ourselves are what make us unique.”
I often shoot on film and don’t follow retouching ideals. Even the flaws in a photograph feel like part of the art to me. I find a special beauty in them and love experimenting with the imperfection of the frame.
I’m a self-taught photographer from cozy Rostov-on-Don. That’s where I first picked up a camera — mostly as a way to distract myself after a breakup — and ended up falling in with a great group of photographers, many of them active since the ’90s. They introduced me to film, analog processes, and, more importantly, a completely different way of seeing photography.
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Later, I moved to Moscow, got a job at a photo lab, and life brought me together with incredible photographers and mentors like Marat Safin and Pavel Krasnov. That became a new impulse for my work. I upgraded my gear, tried different genres, and eventually found myself drawn to nude photography.
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And yes, I’m deeply grateful to the photo lab — it’s where I could really geek out over complex film processes and build a whole network of connections within the scene.
The breaking point
Over time, I went through a second breakup — this one deeply painful — with a girl who was a “10 out of 10” for me. It happened because of something I did at work that shattered her trust. That’s when I set myself a goal: never again work for someone else, only for myself.
That day, I stopped keeping my work “in a drawer.” I started publishing regularly, earning, learning, and building my path for real. And that’s also when I set off on my very first adventure — already as a photographer!