I document the fact that everything is gone forever.
I photograph disappearing cultures and the collective nostalgia of societies, their sense of loss and alienation, and their coping mechanisms with globalization. My interest is in the blind spots of societies.
I explore the search for coherence in a fragmented world. I seek to photograph the aesthetics of people – either displaced, forced out of their natural habitat or forced to consent with alien social structures, but before all – I focus on the individual in the context of a given society. The work that I do requires time and denial because I deny my right to individuality while studying a group of people and their milieu. But it breeds stories and a new face for every story I tell. It seems to me that people are perpetually defining culture, language and the self. I photograph the moment of parting from dysfunctional or lived out identities and the silence in decision making before the cutting and pasting of new characters and histories.
Education
2010 Master Class, ‘See New Perspectives’, Robert Bosch Stiftung and World Press Photo, Berlin, Germany
2005 Master Class by A. Broomberg and O. Chanarin, PHE’05, Spain
2004 Credit Suisse Master Class, Budapest, Hungary
1997-2001 Utrecht Academy of the Arts, The Netherlands
Awards and grants
2010 Nomination for the Dutch Doc Award for best Documentary project, the Netherlands
2010 Base Grant, The Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture
2005 Descubrimientos, Best young photographer, Madrid PhotoEspana
2005 Grand Prix of the 4th International Festival of Photography, Lodz, Poland
2005 Canon Award 2004 (within the framework of ‘De Zilveren Camera 2004’)
2004 The Beginners’ Grant, The Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture
2002 The Beginners’ Grant, The Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture
Solo Exhibitions
2021 Lucid eyes, Sofia, Bulgaria
2019 Inside Out Sofia / Weseum, Sofia, Bulgaria
2016 The Garden, Fotofabrika Festival, Sofia, Bulgaria
2017 Goatmilk festival, Gorna Bela rechka, Bulgaria
2018 Retrospective, Plovdiv Photo Festival, Bulgaria
2018 Alter me, Alter you, Goethe Institute, Sofia, Bulgaria
2014 When you don’t exist, Sofia, Bulgaria
2014 Yesterday when I was little, Lautliev Gallery, Plovdiv, Bulgaria
2014 Yesterday when I was little, Nitra Gallery, Thessaloniki, Greece
2014 I’m Good I’m Great I’m Wonderful, Camera Obscurafreef Utrecht, The Netherlands
2014 I’m Good I’m Great I’m Wonderful, Municipality Utrecht, The Netherlands
2013 Simply a Line, Gredo Bonnum Galery Sofia, Bulgaria
2013 Fried Fish Soup, + Tova, Sofia, Bulgaria
2013 I’m Good I’m Great I’m Wonderful, Design Week Sofia, Bulgaria
2013 1300 grams, +Tova, Sofia, Bulgariaa
2013 I’m Good I’m Great I’m Wonderful, Design Week Plovdiv, Bulgaria
2012 Intimate tales and community shifts, Turnovo University, Bulgaria
2011 One step to heaven, International Photography Festival Plovdiv, Bulgaria
2010 School nr. 7, Bruges, Belgium
2008 School nr. 7, Toulouse, France
2008 Septembre de la Photographie, Lyon, France
2008 Last Lost, International Danube Festival Ulm, Germany
2008 Esto no es una exposocion, Huarte Centro de arte Contemporaneo, Spain
2006 School nr. 7, The Red House, Sofia, Bulgaria
2006 School nr. 7, PhotoEspana, Madrid, Spain
2006 Baba, 5th International Festival of Photography, Lodz, Poland
2005 Baba, Month of Photography in Bratislava, Slovak Republic
2004 Baba, NFM, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Group Exhibitions
2020 Memento Mori, The Palace, Sofia, Bulgaria
2019 Pass The Ammo # 2, Sofia, Bulgaria
2019 Walls of Power, Arles, France
2014 Yesterday when I was little, PhotoBiennale, Thessaloniki, Greece
2014 Heimat?, Kunstforum, Regensbug, Germany
2014 Simply a Line, Buenos Aires Photography festival, Argentina
2014 SEE New Perspectives, Anzenberger Gallery, Vienna, Austria
2013 SEE New Perspectives, DNA Gallery, Berlin, Germany
2013 SEE New Perspectives, Karas Gallery, Zagreb, Croatia
2012 Facing Youth, International Festival of Photography, Bgara, Portugal
2012 SEE New Perspectives, Art Gallery Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
2012 SEE New Perspectives, Kulturni Centar, Belgrade, Serbia
2012 Sense of Place, Centre of Fine Arts BOZAR, Brussels, Belgium
2010 Baba, Bruges, Belgium
2010 Simply a Line, 2nd International Biennale Antakya, Turkey
2010 Simply a Line, Fremont Photography Festival, Australia
2009 Last Lost, Essen, Germany.
2007 The green dress, International Photography Festival, Plovdiv, Bulgaria
2007 Last Lost, Forum Gestaltung, Midgeburg, Germany
2006 Last Lost, Literaturhaus, Munich, Germany
2006 Earth, FotoFest 2006, Houston, USA
2005 Baba, Backlight – The International Photography Festival, Tampere, Finland
2005 Strandja, City Museum of the Arts, Sofia, Bulgaria
2004 Images from the Blind Spot: A visual anthropology of contemporary Bulgaria, Sofia, Bulgaria
2004 Images from the Blind Spot: A visual anthropology of contemporary Bulgaria, Moscow, Russia
2004 Baba, Cologne, Germany
2004 Baba, EIBank Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria