EVERY STARTING, BUT EVERY OTHER LEARNING PHOTOGRAPHER TOO, of the advanced amateur, semi-professional or crowned glory I've-seen-it-all type, should take notice of this extraordinary collection. Many reasons for it! ► First of all, it's varied enough but devoted to a fantastic theme - the rails and everything that move… Read more

EVERY STARTING, BUT EVERY OTHER LEARNING PHOTOGRAPHER TOO, of the advanced amateur, semi-professional or crowned glory I've-seen-it-all type, should take notice of this extraordinary collection. Many reasons for it! ► First of all, it's varied enough but devoted to a fantastic theme - the rails and everything that moves or stands still on them and around them. ► Secondly, don't forget that the images come from a country which until recently had almost superstitious, literally oppressive attitude towards the photography. Not only by the authorities. In the USSR, private photography was something as exotic and suspicious as James Bond's car. So they believed that a slightest deviation in camera direction already meant you were spying. Now the new times are breaking. The _Wind of Change_ has been blowing for more than 30 years already. There is probably no other nation in the world today that like to photograph themselves as much as Russian. They are making up for what they've missed in the past. But beware if you photograph public objects and spaces. It's... not safe. Not for them, nor for you. So who do we get here? We get somebody who overcomes these limitations by a large margin... Only he knows how! I guess that his love for various means of transportation builds an aura which puts up a shield of invisibility around him as photographer. The other means probably include the local know-how, the language skills including body language, and various other skills which Westerners boldly lack because they don't need them. But he uses a relatively heavy camera, full frame, how does he hide it? How do you go low profile or undercover with a full frame Pentax? Not easy task, that one! I've got arrested for taking pictures in a city park with a tiny pocket camera, picture yourself the FF body with a large protruding zoom in a distant industrial corners where your mere presence means you are under suspicion. OK, I'm somebody that many perceive as a spy "type". Maybe Cetus13 is on the other end of the scale? A good camouflaged actor, seemingly uninterested, working class going home after work dragging his legs with tired steps, blended in the environment in an inconspicuous way. But here on Flickr, he does have to use a... user name. Not the real one. An obvious choice. Not liking to refer to somebody by a number instead of a name, I spontaneously started calling him Mr. Railway. Please try to find anybody on this platform who loves it more or knows more about the Rails. Don't take it too lightly. Still today as a visitor, tourist, or even a resident, you can only dream of getting to the places Mr. Railway reaches regularly; let alone photographing them. So have a look here or else you won't have a chance at all. Right. Is there more why you should start browsing his portfolio? As #1 reason comes his affinity for the rails. I believe the angels get fueled by his intense passion for rails and look for his safety. At the same time giving him safe access to special, otherwise dangerous places, and arranging for him the unusual situations worth photographing. In Russia, unlike in many other European countries, trains are still the most important long distance means of transportation. The accompanying culture still exists. It is exciting to take part in it. In the largest country of the world it is particularly interesting to see this infrastructure from the corners you won't ever be allowed to. So! Mr. Railway is one of my Flickr photographic heroes. Why? Let's sum up. ► He has passion for his photography objects, which I believe is the foremost condition for great results in any photography genre; ► He is a brave photographer putting his safety and freedom at stake when taking pictures, so each shot has a special, high price; ► He makes technically advanced images, which is really prerequisite in the technology field he covers; ► His captures bear artistic merits too: balanced composition, fine color and light, good semitones, few extremes; ► And to top it all up, he rounds his presentation up with the excellent, I should say formidable textual information. It's to the point but elaborate enough. It's no nonsense but not imposing too... You can take from it as much as you want/need and leave the rest. What more can one ask from a Flickr contributor? I don't know. He does it all. Not only his best shots, but really most of his images are good example of all arguments summed up above. His "About" section is peculiarly short, though. He only cites his degree. And guess what it is: PhD in biology! So Cetus13 definitely has a sense of humor. Or he is simply Russian by birth. Who, as is widely recognized, know and can do almost everything.