Having 'done my homework' with social media, I started looking for other ways to promote my works and the project as a whole. The first idea that came to my mind was to try and collaborate with someone. My first and most logical choice was to write an email to the Fading Sofia project and ask they if they need better images for their website, the idea being that I use their information and make sure to include a link to their page whereas they use my pictures and include a link to my page.
Here is how their home page looks like - if you click on a point, you see the location and an image of the place so I'd love to have my images there.
In a previous post I wrote that the site was down and probably that mail was lost somewhere so I might need to write up again as the site functions anew. It is very well indexed on Google and the project as a whole aims to tell stories so I'd love to work with them.
Another collaboration opportunity I noticed was the recent launch of Balkanium magazine. I came across it in a sponsored post on Facebook and I checked it out.
To give you an insight of what the project is about, I will quote their info page:
'Balkanium is a photography magazine that was started as a documentary photography master degree project in Belgrade, Serbia. Main intention is to show interesting moments of life and people of the Balkans, that will spread a bit more positive view of this region and life in general. Also, people and countries of the Balkans are not enough connected, beside classic media information’s that are mainly focused on political themes and events. We thought that we should build a platform where we can learn about each other more through photo stories about different people and themes around us. Professional photographers will be here to create that bond and platform.
Balkanium tends to make a team of photographers, one from each Balkan country. If You are interested You can read more here. Balkanium stories exist to try to break some prejudices, make someone’s day, and share quality information’s in the sea of others.
Anđela Petrovski
Photographer and Founder'
I wrote a quick email and explained that we can help each other since our projects have a lot in common and explained that I seek to popularize my project on their magazine as well and they were delighted to have me. Now, there is an open call for photographers to submit articles and I am about to send out my first story for publication within the next few weeks.
Another collaboration I found useful was with the colleagues from Patepis.com - the biggest travel website and blog in Bulgaria. This is a screengrab of my most recent post there - it is a really long post so that's just the admin note on my work.
I personally know the admins and they have been publishing my works for the past two years. I use Patepis.com to promote my work as a photographer (because the site is really well indexed on Google) but also to indulge my passion for writing - so it's a win-win for both sides.
What is more, the stories in Patepis.com are in Bulgarian only which balances with the English-only project and gives my Bulgarian followers something to read.
Another recent collaboration is with the Bulgaria Official channel - they also plan a campaign for popularizing Bulgaria and asked me to join the team since they love my stories and images. I asked if I can use their platform to popularize my project and they were OK with it. Actions are to be taken there since the project there is in the planning stage.
I also became a member of the Bulgarian Association of Professional photographers and they, too said they will give me the opportunity to showcase my work, once I have a larger portfolio of things to show and when the project gets more audience.
What needs to be done is to launch the website and start advertising the project to the places I visit. I've planned to print out some business cards to hand out to people to let them know what this thing is.
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