Hey! I’m Ilia Usmanov, a photographer from Montreal.
Back in 2016, I threw a bunch of clothes and a camera in my backpack and took off to Australia. Several years (and countries) later, I’ve photographed both people and places all over the world. My love for travel kicked off this whole thing, and it’s taken me from the middle of nowhere in Vietnam back to the streets of Montreal, my home city.
Since I spent the early days of my career traveling on a shoestring budget, I learned to be agile and reinvent the wheel in a million different ways. I retain this concept in my work, thinking of new ways to capture clients in a bespoke fashion that radiates their authentic selves. Turns out fixing a broken down motorbike in the middle of nowhere in Vietnam teaches you a few things… A nice side effect to an otherwise stressful situation!
I’ll always have a special spot in my heart for travel photography. But the thing is, I ended up meeting so many great people along the journey that I got inspired to get into portraiture. What started as randomly photographing people of all backgrounds in the jungles of Southeast Asia, turned into a full-time career.
Nowadays, I cover a variety of different photography and portraiture styles – casual, business, personal branding, fashion, couples, as well as boudoir and intimate portraiture. Even if your shoot idea doesn’t fit into the aforementioned list, I’m always down to try new things, so hit me up. My services seem to continuously expand (these ideas just don’t seem to stop).
When I’m not behind the camera or hours deep into a late night editing sesh, you’ll more than likely find me cycling, downing a cup of coffee, or researching some far-flung destination. I can’t wait to meet you and create something epic.