The Spellbinding Portrait Photography of Dmytro Baev

“I always try to leave a shade of the person’s real emotions.”
—Dmytro Baev

In the striking portrait photography of Dmytro Baev, the images act as vessels for emotion. Whether he is capturing the likeness of a man, woman, or child, the winsome subjects portrayed in Baev’s photographs radiate inner life. They’re complex, individual, and beguilingly human.

“For me, photography is primarily a feeling—it’s the feeling you experience when you first see a photograph,” Baev says.

Based in Odessa, Ukraine, Baev crafts highly stylized and evocative photographs, expertly retouched to resemble classical hand-painted portraits. The artist captures the inner world of his subjects, resulting in portraits that exude their own distinct character. “I always try to leave a shade of the person’s real emotions,” he says.

Baev has meticulously honed his craft for the past 10 years, with plenty of creative experimentation along the way. “Since I started in 2013, I’ve tried to shoot across different genres—but for some reason, I always end up with a portrait.”