Bakharev began his career as a mechanic and factory photographer in Russia, but in the 1980s he turned to artistic portraiture. He has made the question of what is public and what is private the center of his career. During a time of censorship of nudity, his choice to stage his models nude and semi-nude elicit tangible reactions of happiness, apprehension, and doubt from the subjects that are readable through their shy smiles, defensive frowns, and tight-knit body language.