The photos of Assen Velikov carry the magic of Bulgarian folklore, traditions and customs in a magnificent bunch of shiny colors. Those make us see the beauties of this country in a bit different manner – we have the chance to rediscover the wealth of its folklore and foreigners are provoked to find more about the attractiveness of these lands. The exhibitions of Assen Velikov, presenting the beauty of the Bulgarian woman and the traditional clothing that she wore through the centuries, displayed at the start of the summer season attracted great interest. The photos were shown at the Varna and Burgas airports within the Different Bulgaria project, executed with the support of the City Info Guides. The photos of Assen may serve as a successful business card of Bulgaria across major tourist forums abroad. “I try to present the good side of life in our country. We see enough tragedies and sad stories in the news. I want to show what’s good,” Assen says.

The man is not a professional photographer – he lives Monday through Friday on his professional engagements but over the weekends he relieves stress by touring around the corners of the country, taking photos of beauties. He was attracted by landscape photography during his university studies, but a couple of years ago his interest was redirected to folklore:

“I happened to come upon a St. Lazarus’ Day in the village of Bistritsa. I enjoyed the way people there looked like. Then I visited a larger congregation. Everybody goes free, happy and smiling there, far away from the noise and pollution of the big city,” Assen says. The spirit of freedom and the opening of a person towards the world around make his photos provocative and memorable. However, what about the distance between the lens and the model – how do you melt the ice?

“I was surprised to find that it was really easy,” Assen says. “The first time when I visited an event the surrounding environment was supposed to be unknown, even hostile. I expected the people to try to hide from the lens. However, they were all very smiling and stress-relieved. I quickly became one of them.”

How do you portray a different Bulgaria within all this globalization around?

“Portraits are my soft spot – the spontaneous ones. At the same time I enjoy taking pictures of traditions as well – rose-picking, Epiphany, reenactments of rituals… I am tempted by any of these plots,” the photographer says.

A patriotic wave has been recently on the rise in Bulgaria, often engined by young people. What is their motivation, according to Assen Velikov?

“I wouldn’t go into politics, but in my opinion it all comes as a reaction to the state’s apathy, regarding its people,” he answers.

However, patriotism means not only roots, but also creation. What do we need for our progress?

“I don’t want it to sound too revolutionary, but we need a leader at first. Unfortunately, the process of awakening is not that easy. Our generation was once tricked on 10 November 1989. Now it is the second time for hopes. However, the desperate ones have already left the country – we are 2 mln. shorter as a nation. The ones who remained – we are trying to do something to wake up patriotism. That is why I feel sympathy to the Bashtino Ognishte /Hearth and Home/ initiative – a bus-traveling community center, touring around different towns and villages, aiming at a referral to people’s patriotism. There are many other initiatives of that kind and I would say that the number of those who attend folklore gatherings has doubled over the past couple of years,” photographer Assen Velikov says in conclusion.

English version; Zhivko Stanchev