A Closer Look: Nikolai Khizhniak

Nikolai Khizhniak was born in Chapayevsk, a town in Samara Oblast, Russia. Since early childhood Nikolai Khizhniak dreamt of becoming an inventor. After graduating from school Khizhniak worked as a machinist. In 2005, after earning enough money, Khizhniak bought his first camera (a digital 4 megapixel Olympus camera) despite his family's disapproval of his interest in photography. In his free time, he photographed the local landscape.

In 2010 Khizhniak came across a live journal page of the Russian blogger Ilya Varlamov, who at the time was creating photo essays. This is what ultimately triggered his decision to pursue photography on the professional level. Khizhniak began working as freelance photojournalist photographer in 2011, and as a photo correspondent for various publications in 2013.

Khizhniak says, “I believe in pictures that I can look at for a long time. I want pictures that are timeless and that have meaning to me.”