Website Launch

Since mid-December 2025 I have been building my photography website. Today it finally went live. I would like to explain why I created it and what to expect from it.

Reasons

Glass has been a home for my photography for quite a while already. I started my account there as soon as I discovered it and I immediately fell in love with its principles: no algorithmic timeline, no ads, no like or follower counters. It is made to appreciate photographic work and make photographers connect instead of blindly growing retention rates like all other photo services do.

…at the heart of our work, of Glass itself, is community.

— A New Mark for Glass

I love Glass and I do not plan to stop posting photos there, but at some point I felt the need to have my own photography website, too, for several reasons.

First, I want to be able to organize and present my works in more ways than Glass currently allows. I used to organize my photos in series on Glass, but actually, they were albums with shots grouped by genres since I didn't develop any coherent series at that moment. Now, on my website I can finally have both series and albums. There are a few more photos on my website than on Glass, because I have been reviewing my archives and adding more pictures from the past. From now on, I will try to keep them in parity.

Second, for a long time, I wanted to have my own standalone blog where I could tell stories and share my photographic adventures in any way I like. Now I have Journal.

Third, when you share photos in messengers or social media, images can be compressed in an unpredictable way. I wanted to have a place where you can see my photos as intended, in the quality controlled by yours truly. As a bonus, the website serves as a primary home of my intellectual property.

Design

My website is completely handmade. My day job is in digital product design. I usually have an opinion on design and usability of all things in the world — an opinion on how everything should be — and a few skills enabling me to create things on the internet. That's why I incorporated a few principles here:

1. I want to have 0 dependencies and 100% control over the content and its presentation. This website is not using any CMS system. It doesn't run on any proprietary technology, and doesn't have jQuery or any other heavyweight framework. Everything about how it works and looks was decided by me.
2. The website does not track its visitors in any way whatsoever. I don't even know if you're visiting it right now. I don’t have any analytics systems or trackers here, and that’s a deliberate decision. I prefer to avoid being sucked into metrics and their optimization, and instead spend my time and energy creatively. Bonus: I don't have to annoy my visitors with “accept cookies” messages.
3. There are no dark patterns on this website, I am not going to trick you into spending more time here if you don't want to. There are no popups asking to subscribe and all external links open by default in the same tab instead of new ones.
4. Content is above interface here. Every design decision was made after answering the question: “Will it help you see my photos?” There are no distractions or bold graphics besides photographs themselves, they are the centerpieces of the web­site.

Future

My website is not a portfolio of an accomplished professional, but a personal workshop put on display. For now, I follow curiosity rather than coherence. And of course, I make mistakes. But I am learning and trying to understand what I’m drawn to. My long-term goal is to carve out a style that feels mine, and I believe that my website will motivate me to improve.

I hope it will be interesting for you to explore my photography. If you like what you see here, consider subscribing to updates.