I was born in Sofia, Bulgaria in 1963 in the family of civil engineers. During my high school studies I got interested in photography as a hobby and between 1978 and 1983 I taught myself the basic photographic shooting and darkroom techniques. In the mid-80’s I became making the transition from a hobbyist to a photographer, consciously using the camera to make a statement in the tradition of the reportorial, socially-engaged photography of Robert Frank and Henri Cartier Bresson, who were my formative influences. During the years 1983-1990 I had numerous exhibitions and magazine publications in Bulgaria and abroad, and I gained the confidence, technique and scope of thinking of an artist.

In 1990 I immigrated to the USA, a move that changed my life, both on the existential and the esthetic level. My MFA studies at the School Of Visual Arts (1993-1994) expanded the scope of my interests and references beyond the world of photography. My work has remained photographic in nature but has shifted towards a subjective, semi-abstract mode of expression which I continue exploring at present.

My art is in the permanent collections of the following museums: Museum Of Fine Arts, Houston; Preus Fotomuseum, Norway; Musee de la Photographie, Charleroi, Belgium; Museet For Fotokunst, Denmark; National Art Gallery, Bulgaria.

I currently live and work in suburban New Jersey in close proximity to NYC. As of 2012 I continue using film cameras (all formats from 35mm to 8x10) and persist in my belief in the power of contemplation and slowness, both for me ingredients to what W. Eugene Smith used to call "Photography Made Difficult". Over the years my methods, likes and dislikes in photography have changed but my main belief has remained unchanged: that "the aim of art is to prepare a person for death, to plough and harrow his soul, rendering it capable of turning to good" (in the words of Russian film director Andrei Tarkovsky).

 

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