Aleksandr Sokolnikov

I was born in Russia and live and work in Estonia.
My connection to visual art began early, shaped by time spent in museums and encounters with Renaissance painting. These experiences formed a lasting sensitivity to light, composition, and the narrative potential of an image.
I discovered photography at sixteen, using my father’s camera and working in a home darkroom. Although I built a career in engineering, photography remained a constant — gradually shifting from a parallel interest to a central practice.
My work moves across landscape, portrait, and the human form, with a growing focus on conceptual photography. Regardless of genre, I am drawn to transitions — between light and shadow, presence and absence, clarity and ambiguity.
Nature is a recurring foundation in my work. I approach both landscape and the human body as part of the same continuum, exploring their shared language of form, rhythm, and imperfection.
I am not interested in direct representation. Instead, I use photography as a way to interpret — to construct images that convey atmosphere, tension, and a sense of quiet, unresolved narrative.