Ivo Danchev's "Ghosts": a way to draw our attention to the topic of depopulation

"The specter of depopulation still haunts Bulgaria."

Behind these words of photographer Ivo Danchev, the audience in the Dynaphos studio and our streaming last night not only saw his evidence from the photo story "Phantoms," but felt them. Because his shots of abandoned buildings in a Strandzha village are real, and the Kukeri, masterfully staged as a presence within them, reinforce the impression to such an extent that they evoke strong emotion in the viewer. It can be sadness, fear, despair, anger, but in any case, it is memorable.   

Ivo Danchev gathers his story frame by frame in the village of Momina Tsarkva. He came across it while looking for new "heroes" for his series on Kukeri in Bulgaria. Before seeing the Kukeri there, however, he saw the ruins. 

“And it spontaneously occurred to me to place the Kukeri in these ruins. When I took the first shot, I was startled,” Danchev recounted. And furthermore: “In posed portraits, I like everything to be arranged in the frame, I direct it. Here, I felt that everything was in its place and I shouldn’t touch absolutely anything. Thus, these Kukeri turned into ghosts, which I later called phantoms.”

Ivo Danchev's phantoms are not only in the houses abandoned by people in Momina Tsarkva, but also in the long-closed public buildings – the school, the bakery, the shop... Until about the 1950s, they were full of life. The village was then the largest in the region – with 3,500 inhabitants. Depopulation began with the creation of TKZS (Labor Cooperative Agricultural Farms), when – having lost their lands – many local people began to descend from Strandzha to the cities. In 1964, with the mechanization of agriculture, many people again lost their agricultural work, and this was the second wave of emigration.

Ivo Danchev's photo story continues with several blocks built for the new settlers who came to Momina Tsarkva under the state decree from 1982 for the revival of Strandzha-Sakar. With the collapse of socialism a few years later, the blocks became half empty. And the following years saw the largest wave of emigration to cities and outside Bulgaria.

"This is the story of phantoms. It is a way to draw attention to the issue of depopulation in the country," Ivo Danchev pointed out.

The photographer, whose photo stories have been published for years in "National Geographic" magazine and distributed through its editions in many countries around the world, is now also determined to show in various places, including his native village Gornoslav, the alarming evidence of abandoned villages like Momina Tsarkva.

"I have an agreed publication in National Geographic," says Ivo, who has made it his mission, through the world seen through his lens, to sound the alarm in society and institutions for finding solutions to important national problems.

He does this by traveling around the mountains and villages in Bulgaria, armed with his Canon EOS R5. And with a love for what he enjoys photographing – animals, people, nature. To do this, crucial for him, as well as for artists like Ivo, is the "Creative Fellowships" program of the National Culture Fund, with whose help he is also carrying out his "Phantoms" project. 

It was presented for the first time at the Dynaphos event last night, which attracted viewers and admirers of Ivo Danchev's social art to our studio. In addition to hearing the story of the photo project, those who came in person viewed prints from it up close, and some chose to take home a print personally signed by the author.

The prints are made on fine art paper with a Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-1000, which Ivo Danchev purchased to complete his creative process from the idea for a photo story through its realization to printing.  

"I am technically completely inept. I was very afraid of printing. The truth is, after 1 hour of instruction, it turned out to be elementary. With a few test prints, I created files for printing with perfectly tuned settings, and I just print. Canon's inks are great." 

You can see for yourself today until 6:00 PM; Dynaphos invites you to its showroom at 90 Prof. Tsvetan Lazarov Blvd. in Sofia to print your own photo for free. More about Ivo Danchev's work will be featured in his portrait on our blog in mid-April. Until then, you can visit his website and photography Facebook profile, as well as watch last night's streaming with his "Phantoms" here.