"Mirrors and windows" - the world through the prism of photography

published on 3/20/23 1:16 PM

Ralph Gibson (b. 1939, USA) The Enchanted Hand, 1968

Photo: Provided by Synthesis Gallery

The Sofia-based Synthesis will unveil the exhibition "Mirrors and windows: selected photographs from the collection of Rafaelo Kazakov", as the official opening will be on March 22. The beginning of the collection to be put on display was set more than thirty years ago, but this is the first time it will be shown to the public.

The exhibition features photographs of world-famous authors such as Edward Weston, Robert Frank, Elliot Erwitt, Ralph Gibson, Antanas Sutkus, as well as important Bulgarian photographers, including Garo Keshishian, Yordan Yordanov-Yuri and Stanka Tsonkova-Usha.‎

Garo Keshishian (b. 1947, Bulgaria), from the series

Collecting is a natural continuation of Rafaelo Kazakov's work as a photographer and of his life between Sofia and New York. It is not by chance that the collection combines popular shots from the history of photography with unknown images yet close to the composer's heart, works of his friends and photographs related to his family.

Nikolay Vassilev (b. 1945, Bulgaria), September 9, Sofia, 1989

In the accompanying program to the exhibition, three documentaries will be shown, dedicated to three photographers included in the collection - Robert Frank, Antanas Sutkus and Joel-Peter Witkin.‎

Robert Frank (1924-2019, Switzerland), Andrea, Southampton, 1955

Rafaelo Kazakov was born in 1963 in Sofia. In 1988, he graduated in English philology at Kliment Ohridski University, and in 1994 he graduated with a master's degree in photography and visual art at the School of Visual Art in New York.

Kazakov is the author of numerous solo exhibitions around the world, as his works are in the permanent collections of the National Art Gallery in Sofia and the Preus Museum in Horten, Norway, the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, USA, and Musee de la Photographie in Charleroi, Belgium.‎

You can see more photographs from the exhibition in the gallery below.

Compiled by Veneta Nikolova

The photos are courtesy of the exhibition organizers.