Dimitry Papkov

Dimitry Papkov is a landscape and travel photographer, traveling the world to share his experiences.

• If your photography could speak, what would it say about you?

If my photography could speak, it would show that at my core I’m a traveler and a nature enthusiast — someone who feels most alive in nature. My goal is to use my images to share the sense of wonder and quiet joy that comes from watching the sun settle over a mountain ridge or walking through the stillness of early-morning woods. As I say on my website, ‘There is nothing like climbing a mountain to watch the sun settling over the vista… it’s the way life should be.’

The variety in my work reflects my philosophy as a photographer and as a person, captured well by Louis Pasteur’s line: ‘Luck favors the prepared mind.’ I’m always ready for the unexpected moment, whether I’m close to home or halfway across the world.

• Is there a place or environment where you feel most yourself as a photographer?

As a photographer, I feel equally at home wandering my local woods or climbing a mountain to watch the sun set. I’ve been a lover of fantasy for as long as I can remember, and that influence inevitably shapes where my eye goes. I’m drawn to misty, enchanted conditions, to gnarly old trees, and to the sense of story hidden in castle ruins. Those environments spark the imagination and bring out the version of myself that’s most curious, observant, and creatively alive.

• What is the most meaningful photo you have ever taken, and why?

While I’m deeply proud of many of the landscape images I’ve created, the photos that mean the most to me are actually the ones I don’t share — my family photos. Even though I’m not a portrait photographer, those images carry a weight that’s hard to describe: they mark time, preserve relationships, and remind me how quickly life changes. I often find myself returning to old family albums, not for technical perfection, but for the feeling they hold. In a certain way, that same sense of fleeting moments is what drives my landscape work: the desire to hold onto something beautiful, if only for a second.

• If you could describe your photography in one feeling, what would it be?

If I had to describe my photography in one feeling, it would be wonder — that quiet jolt you get when nature shows you something unexpected. It’s the feeling that stops you in your tracks and makes you breathe a little deeper.

• From the photographs exhibited in Decagon, is there one that holds personal meaning for you?

Among the photographs I exhibited in Decagon, ‘Impressions of Autumn’ holds the deepest personal meaning. It was recently accepted into the Planet Earth exhibit, and it represents everything I strive for as a photographer. I pass the pond where I created the image almost every day, and for a long time I tried to capture the quiet beauty I felt there, but the results never matched the experience. Then one morning I drove through pockets of heavy mist that helped simplify the scene and solve the biggest issue I always had at that spot – visual clutter. The combination of fog and soft light created an absolutely enchanted atmosphere I had never seen before. I leaned into that feeling as I edited the image, and the final result became one of my all-time favorites.