Among Sergey's work, one will often find a clever use of shade. The photographer likes the powerful mystery that it places around the model.

The intention is never just to hide parts of the model's body that she wishes to remain hidden, but more often to illuminate parts of her body - those which remain visible in the relative darkness.

With the prevalence of female nudes today on the Internet, his approach adds a subtlety to his work that distinguishes it from that of his contemporaries.

The darkness seems to a common theme in Russian photography. Babenko's use of shade and under-exposure is comparable to that of another Russian Master, Grigori Galitsin.

Despite his clever use of shade, Sergey Babenko is probably better appreciated for his use of natural light, not just outdoors but also indoors, often photographing his models next to a brightly lit window. Read more in the Power Of Light section.