The road to photography was not a direct one. Born in the former Soviet Union, Alexei Afonin started his career as an actor at age 12. He held a number of leading roles in films and TV shows on Moscow Central Television for several years. In 1974 at the age of 17 he immigrated with his family to the United States.

Shortly after he traveled through Canada, Europe, Mexico and most of the US for several years and at the end decided to settle in New York City. He tried a few careers (including directing, back to acting etc.), all of them representing some form of artistic expression. He then studied Figurative Painting at the Art Students League in New York City, and Ecole Des Beaux Art in Paris, then back to NYC at New York Studio School. After his studies, he practiced his craft at a small beach bungalow in Long Island, NY and exhibited his extraordinary work at various art galleries and colleges. Alexei had a gift of making a painting come alive. His style of painting was so realistic in capturing a person's essence that he decided to go into photography. He started by photographing his own paintings and friends, then his work was starting to be recognized, so naturally, jobs started pouring in.

The more he shot, the more he loved it, shooting everything from beautiful landscapes to people, to art to products. His explorations led him to shooting stills for a motion picture, then he was hired on the spot as a staff photographer for a Fashion Trade Magazine. This is what set off his passion for fashion photography. He worked with the magazine for seven years during which time he nearly perfected his skills in brilliant/outstanding lighting and composition.

Alexei owned a successful studio in midtown Manhattan for over 10 years, where he shot Advertisements, Magazine Editorial Spreads, Catalogues, Lookbooks, Actor's Headshots, Model's Portfolios for Agencies and Independent models, and Stills. Alexei has developed a specific talent for capturing the beauty in Hair photography. Some of his clients include Hype Hair, Braids & Beauty, Ultimate Weaves & Extensions magazines and Shake'n'Go, Beauty Plus, Kaneka, Sensual Hair, Roma Lee, to name a few, hair companies. Just recently Alexei moved to South Beach Miami, where he's beginning a new photographic venture.

Alexei Afonin's biggest strength is his versatile life experience. He applies those lessons when photographing a subject to produce the optimal photograph. For small shoots he prefers to do makeup himself, a skill that he acquired from painting realistic portraits; his make-up is very natural yet extremely beautiful. When shooting headshots, he draws from his own acting and directing experience to pull out the expression from the actor. As far as modeling portfolios, he assures that first the model is ready for a photo session by testing his or her ability and knowledge of the Art of Posing prior to a photosession. If the model is not ready, he schedules a free half hour session to teach him/her the necessary thought patterns and poses for a successful shoot, The Art of Posing.

Alexei's life philosophy is, "Don't walk the beaten path, life needs purpose, find it and don't ever loose site of it."