Greetings! I'm Andrija Ilic, a photographer originally from Serbia, now calling the Faroe Islands home for over a decade. My photographic journey began in the mid-90s in Yugoslavia (later Serbia), in a dark room lab of a master photographer, and the beginnings were pretty much old school: mixing my own chemicals, processing film rolls and photography prints, taking notes while shooting photos and analysing the results later. In a country affected by wars and unrest, I decided to take me camera out of the darkness of the lab and out into the world so that I can make my own mark in what was going on in my environment.
I entered a word of professional photography as a completely anonymous guy, without knowing anyone in that business. Being 24/7 out on the streets covering the big protests of Serbian people against Milosevic, it happened that a guy pulled out a gun in front of me and started shooting, I remained on the spot focusing only on my frame. Later that evening I knocked on a door of a biggest newspaper company, and I offered that exclusive photo to them. It was the first time I sold and published my photo, marking the beginning of my career official. Soon after I found my photography “home” with the news agency FoNet from Serbia and got the first big assignments, covering the war in Kosovo in 1998/99, NATO bombing campaign against Serbia 1999, the final big protest against Miloseivc and the overthrow of his regime, and the attempt of special opps trying to arrest him and extradite him to the international court. That was also a final chapter of the Yugoslav wars and drama, and ironically enough, on that occasion I was shot and wounded in my right hand by Milosevics bodyguards. I remained on the spot, managing to get my photos with just one hand. Always all-in for a photo. After the peace finally arrived in Balkans, I found myself in West Bank and Gaza Strip in the Middle East, covering the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.
After that life would have me moved to the peaceful and remote Faroe Islands, with a nature and landscapes straight out of a good sci-fi movie, and that opened a new chapter in my career as a landscape and outdoor photographer. Since early childhood I was specially connected with the nature that was introduced to me by my grandfather, a true highlander and a WWII veteran. I spent my summer and winter holidays with him on a pretty wild mountain in Serbia, where you still can hear wolves howling in a silent winter nights. He made the biggest impact on me developing that urge to explore, experience, love and feel comfortable in the nature. I learned all those nature tricks and hacks that will come in handy many years later. Most of all, I fell forever in love with the wilderness and vast spaces, always being respectful and never taking for granted the blessing of being able to be there in the great outdoors. When I became photographer, I used time gaps in between my photo assignments to pack my back pack with the basics, grab my photo gear and wonder out into the nature, sometimes for days. Reflecting on things and resetting my thoughts. Sleeping out in the open without a tent was never an issue, and for some reason I always felt comfortable being one with the nature. I was worried more whether my camera batteries last
Moving to Faroe Islands I shifted my focus to landscape photography. Transitioning may sound like a funny term, but there was indeed a process of switching my mindset and my approach to landscape photography after doing documentary, were split-second reactions were essential, including right decisions with composition and shutter speed, there was no second chances … I came to a level where I had all the time in the world to commit myself into pursuing my photos. Everything was slightly different: the perception itself, switching the style and technique, topic selection and fields of interest, different ways of preparing photos and the assignments, scouting locations and dealing with the harsh Nordic weather. The process of learning to forecast specific light scenarios and responding accordingly became integral to my photo preparation. I don't rely heavily on lucky shots while wandering around; instead, the core of my landscape photography workflow lies in understanding and knowing my location thoroughly, always learning the potential of my chosen spots, mastering light scenarios, and dedicating time and effort to outdoor exploration in pursuit of the perfect frame. Good shots don’t come that often, only once in a while, but when they do the joy of hanging a "trophy" photo on the wall is bigger. Even in the absence of a successful capture, the mere opportunity to be outdoors and forge a connection with nature is a blessing in itself.
I shall probably mention something about my published work and awards, but just briefly. Working with Serbian and international photo agencies (Reuters, Corbis, Sipa, Vario Press) as well as directly with magazines and newspapers - my work is published worldwide, and I counted only first few hundreds and the big names, and by now I have a photo published in all corners of the world. Latest one was feature of my photo with a puffin offspring on BBC Earth. Somehow being a published photographer is not that critically important any more, because photographers, finally, can make their own reach to the world with their own social media, and we don’t depend so much on publishers for our visibility. No we have social media and we can reach our audience by ourselves. Being seen is being published.
Awards – I had those too. The highlight was winning an international prize for photography and being invited to Switzerland for a few days ceremony. That was a dream come true.
This “About me” ended up too long for reading, but for the ones interested in my work, this was a brief description about the work life of the man behind the camera.
In case you have requires or questions regarding my photo work, possibility for cooperation on projects or a photo assignment, feel free to drop me an email
©2023 by Andrija Ilic Images