Ivo Danchev: a life told in others' photos

Animals, people, and nature - these are the subjects of all his projects. Before he began to see the world through a lens, he was a conservationist. Now, he continues his life with the cause of protecting the planet, and his camera is another tool in its support. His photo stories find their way onto the pages of National Geographic. He has been working with the magazine since 2009, his materials have been awarded by the editorial board in Washington, and one of his series has become an "evergreen". From an art director at the prestigious magazine in 2012 to buying a barn in the Rhodopes 5 years later, where he began to tell the sad stories of the people there - the story of photographer Ivo Danchev is a life told in pictures of others.

"I love to photograph things that I like. And to make a living from them. But it's very difficult, I've gone bankrupt several times. But I just can't give up."

His first camera was a Canon EOS 350D. With it, in 2007, Ivo created an impressive photo story about wild horses, which the Balkan itself told him. Wandering through it, he witnessed how people captured free stallions, how they tamed them and put them to work, and when they were exhausted, returned them to the mountains, where the horses died.

"I converted everything to black and white because I thought colors weren't my thing, I wasn't good at shooting in color," Ivo explains.

And the result of the contrast contributes even more strongly to the impact of the series. With it, he won first prize in a competition.

He received a large plasma TV, which he quickly replaced with a new camera - the first version of the Canon EOS 5D. With it, he discovered colors in his photographic work.

"Seeing these colors, I was surprised - I said to myself, "What colors, what a miracle!" And since then, I haven't taken a single black and white shot. I realized that the camera matters. After that, I always shot with the 5D series, including the Canon EOS 5D MARK IV. And now - with the Canon EOS R5." 

Next came a photo story about the Karakachans - shepherds in the mountains who stayed there until the first snow to tend their livestock. Ivo wandered through the Balkan mountains, talked to them, went with them, and thus took his photos - shots whose meaning you understand not independently, but when you see them in development.

When asked how long such a project could last, the photographer acknowledges that each time is different, but rushing time always comes at the expense of quality and depth. To avoid neglecting either, Ivo Danchev spends 4 months with Native Americans in America, whom he has the chance to photograph a second time with a Fulbright scholarship.

It turns out that his longest project is about the Kukeri. It lasts 5 years, with work on it taking place in winter.

"There came a time when the Rhodope Mountains became a popular destination for photographers. That was when I encountered the Kukeri and started photographing them. Right from the first moment, something clicked, snapped - all the themes I was interested in came together in them. Here were all my heroes, the legends, the fantastic... Everything that interested me was in the Kukeri, and I became terribly passionate," Ivo recalls, going back to 2018.

The Kukeri, who also have other names – Survakari, Starci, Babugerish, Chaushi – drive away evil with their terrifying costumes. The custom is preserved throughout Europe. "But in our country – thanks to many factors, including communism – this diversity has been preserved," adds the photographer, who gained immense fame with his publication "Between Two Worlds – the Land of the Kukeri."

"These were portraits that told the personal stories of the Kukeri and showcased the diversity of the tradition in Bulgaria. This publication turned out to be very successful and became what is called an evergreen. This means that National Geographic buys the rights and provides them to its 27 branches. 10 editorial offices confirmed that they would publish it and made it available for publication," Ivo Danchev points out.

Over three winters, his photo story of the Kukeri, told through his pictures, appeared in the pages of the magazine in 18 of its branches.

"This was my dream - for my photos to travel the world. I am happy not only for that, but also for the people themselves."

Ivo Danchev's Kukeri enjoyed public interest during exhibitions in Georgia and Paris. In the French capital, their photo story was displayed in the gallery of the Bulgarian Cultural Institute last November and stayed a month longer than planned.

In March, Ivo Danchev presented his latest project, "Phantoms," for the first time in the Dynaphos studio, to a live audience and via streaming. In this project, the Kukeri are positioned in the ruined buildings of a deserted village in Strandzha. The photographer's idea is to create an exhibition with the photos in the village where he has lived for 8 years and claims to have become a hermit. Gornoslav is in the Red Wall Biosphere Reserve, which is a protected area. And 10 minutes from Asenovgrad, where Ivo's roots are.

"Until a few months ago, everything was great, until I found out that a concession for marble extraction had been approved. All of us who returned - both during the pandemic - and revitalized the villages, suddenly, upon learning this, began to organize and oppose. We discovered irregularities in the procedures. We initiated lawsuits, clashed with institutions. We are forced to try to make institutions do their job through civil actions."

Will this life situation lead to a new photo story? We have yet to find out. Before that, we will probably see the project Ivo is currently working on - "Behind the Masks." In it, he photographs the Roma people who participate in the Kukeri tradition and explores the problem of integration. "Phantoms" and "Behind the Masks" are funded by the National Culture Fund under the "Creative Scholarships" and "Socially Engaged Arts" programs.

All photos in the article are by Ivo Danchev or specially provided by him for publication in the Dynaphos blog. You can learn about his work through his website and his photography Facebook profile. And more about his story and the presentation of "Phantoms" in our studio, watch in our streaming video.