Valery Bareta

Valery Bareta

"I am Valery Bareta, an freelance art photographer.

I was born in an industrial city Mariupol, Ukraine. Not everyone has a clear vision of who he wants to become when young, I was one of those. So when I finished school I went to hometown Polytechnical Institute with desire(like most of my friends) to become an engineer. After I graduated, I was called into army. That’s how I found myself in Kamchatka, a wonderful region with unique nature and interesting people. You can see the gallery Kamchatka to get a clue.

After two years of serving in army I decided to stay and work in Kamchatka. Then was a time when I realized that being an engineer is not in my nature and something I really want. Among my friends in Kamchatka there were some artists. I participated in numerous creative expeditions, and general travel trips. I watched vulcano eruptions, enjoyed hot springs and was absolutely astonished by geisers. If that’s not enough to find yourself, then what is!? And I found myself as an artist. I went to work for an USSR Art Foundation.

I decorated interiors, designed and painted. Participated in various exhibitions. I had my camera from the time when I was a schoolboy. So I shooted Kamchatka’s nature and my friends as an amateur. But, once I was asked to participate in local exhibition, and surprisingly won the contest. It was a great motivation to improve my technique and qualification. For some time I tried to paint and shoot at same time, but soon I realized that I need to choose between those two. So I changed brush to camera.

At that time there still was a USSR, including the overall deficit. Deficit of everything and even information. I dreamed about Nikon and readed “Soviet Photo” a magazine where 90% of images were political and ideology. Only two last pages, sometimes featured images of foreign photographers. Art-nude was something impossible. Meanwhile I had a strong desire to see Kamchatka’s nature through the nude model’s perspective. My idol was Helmut Newton, once I saw some of his pictures in a Chechoslovakian magazine. After I saw his photos, for me, art-nude ceased to be an “forbidden fruit “.

Unfortunately, my Kamchatka period falled into time of “learning” and waiting of the good camera. I thought, later I come back, shoot… Well... “later” does not work.

I moved to Estonia, right before it gained it’s freedom. Freedom brought it’s own problems, financial. By that time I became an professional photographer, in terms of making a living. To found an client, organize studio… these was not an easy tasks with economy crisis allaround. However, I manged to overcome these difficulties.

Nowdays, I have studio in Tallinn, capital city of Estonia, and some Projects in Kiev, Ukraine and a website www.valerybareta.com."