When I had to come up with ideas for Falmouth, and having in mind the topic of abandoned buildings, the first thing that came to my mind was Zdravko Yonchev's work (actually I had to scroll back to the event and find out who he was because at the time we met, I didn't have the habit of collecting contact information). The first image that came to my mind was the one with the glass orb. I love that image. Really, really love it!
Since I'm new to this genre - really, abandoned things is not something I do on a daily basis - there I was, scratching my head, wondering how to go about the task at hand. You may wonder why I was so reluctant to just go and do it. Well, in Bulgaria, entering abandoned buildings (which are private property most of the time) is illegal and if you are a 5-feet-tall girl like me, you'd think twice before getting in trouble with A) the owners (who are part of the nouveau-riche class that usually lingers at the borderline where law and crime meet) or B) the angry neighbours (who, out of solidarity, may be very hostile to any trespasser since they think it's their turn next) or worse still C) the local police (who are nowhere near the policemen in Britain and will first beat the hell out of me before they ask any questions). So, since my photo equipment is generally my most valuable possession, I'm not really keen on uncalculated risks.
That was my problem number 1 - as much as I wanted to do what Zdravko had done, I was a girl and alone so I had to proceed with caution. I loved his style - and still do - to me the HDR-like quality of his images adds to the overall mood of decay by bringing the details out. That is his signature style, by the way - anything he shots, he pulls the clarity slider to the maximum (which doesn't always work). To me more clarity is OK, as long as it brings the details out without making this tweak visible from a satellite in outer space. So, whatever I edit, I will surely add some clarity but try to keep it more natural than the full-detailed shots Zdravko does.
Another thing was that I'm used to capturing the broader image - l because that's what you usually do in landscape and travel - show the spirit of the place. However, with abandoned buildings, it's often the details that do the trick and since I'm not really sure what I'm doing, I have no idea if I've done it right.
Having had all that in mind, I headed for my first 'prey' - the house with the strawberries. It is roughly the most famous abandoned house in Sofia and maybe the most beautiful one too. I even invited a friend who has a soft spot for abandoned buildings to join me. BUT it turned out that access to the insides of the house (which has an amazing story to tell but about that - at some other time).
The house with strawberries welcomed me with closed doors. Still, I'm used to taking pictures though the fence of something so I got this image:
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| This is how the house with the strawberries looks now - all entrances are barred and the neighbours are famous for calling the police 24/7 for anyone who dared venturing inside. |
This image was OK - I've never been to the place so it seemed good to me - BUT somehow it didn't tell the whole story of the place - once the home of a wealthy banker, then an embassy, then the headquarters of KGB (or it's Bulgarian version). So, it dawned on me, that I might incorporate some of the fence of the house. That's how these images were born:
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| The fence and house - I really wanted to capture the feeling of the place being closed off. |
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| This image is by far my favourite because of the contrast of forms - the round ones of the house and the straight ones of the fence. The sticker (which I'll be deleting for the final shot, most probably) is from a security company. |
These images are sort of unedited - I'll be doing a bit more sophisticated edit for the portfolio. But one house alone cannot serve for a whole portfolio. So I needed more information and since this house is virtually the only one I know, I had to do some research.
That's how I came up with this site - Fading Sofia (available only in Bulgarian) - http://www.fadingsofia.rcss.eu.
These people have collected all abandoned houses in the city center with maps and information about the place. The thing I noticed that they lack images so I contacted them for collaboration - they give me the info, I give them the images (watermarked since they'll be used on the net) and both quote each other.
So far, I don't have a response but even if they don'y agree I'll quote them as the source for information.
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