Ilya Kormiltsev. Poet and translator

It’s very hard for me to write about Ilya Kormiltsev and his legacy. He managed to achieve a lot, meant a lot to other people, and a detailed description of his personality goes well beyond my posts. I usually describe here the history of photographs I’ve taken and everything related to them, all these moments of life. But I will try to do it in brief.

Ilya Kormiletsev is mostly famous as a great poet, founder of the legendary Soviet, and later Russian, rock band Naulitus Pompilius and author of many of its songs.

Once we were having a walk with my photographic buddy, discussing the problems of street photography, when he spontaneously asked me:

Wanna go to Kormiltsev with me today!?
To whom? Ilya Kormiltsev from Nautilus?
Yes.
How come? Do you mean we’ll just pop by, ring the bell, and he will welcome us inside?
Not exactly. I have an assignment for his portrait by a literary magazine, and you will come with me and help me, maybe, take some pictures yourself.
Wicked, let’s go!

I have always been fascinated by his creative non-conformism while dealing with authorities, especially when Ilya Kormiltsev created the Ultra.Kultura publishing house in order to publish alternative — and at times quite radical — literature, which he translated himself. His project was later “stifled” by the authorities for his free-thinking.