Ilya Bykov
was born in Leningrad in 1963.
When he was a 4th-grader at school, he had to part from his carefree childhood as he joined, on his grandmother’s advice, a photography club in his city district. Soon afterwards he went into the army. After his military service Bykov became a student of the N. K. Krupskaya Institute of Culture in Leningrad, graduating from its Department of Cinematic and Photography Work.
He climbed the career ladder from a lighting technician to assistant cameraman, TV cameraman to a director on TV Channel Five. Bykov has travelled a great deal about Russia, never parting with his photo camera.
Then he abandoned completely any state structures to become a freelance. He took to travelling about Russia by bicycle. He can ride his bicycle for weeks, alone, and return with tons of impressions on films or digit.
In 2002 Bykov was admitted to the Union of Russia’s Artists.
Personal fotosite http://www.ilozavr.ru
