General overview – key themes
‘Sofia – grows but never ages’ is about change and development of the urban environment. In it, I tried to explore how famous historical landmarks within the Sofia downtown have changed throughout the years. It mainly focuses on the social aspect of how the cultural-historical environment changes the inherited buildings and how the urban environment changes. This is evident in some of the images where the landmark (now in downtown) was in the outskirts of the city. Most landmarks (included in the final exhibition, that is) have changed very little since they have been opened to the public (in the beginning of the 20th century or the end of the 19th).
Sofia has a long history and throughout the past century, it has undergone many social, political and geographical changes – ranging from totalitarian rule to WWII bombings. Whole districts appeared while other were demolished but some buildings somehow managed to stand the test of time. They exist today, squeezed in between modern shops and restaurants and they tell a different story – of a budding country that somehow managed to get out of the pit of poverty and slavery to be plunged into another pit of total control only sixty years later, within the lifespan of a generation.
That town is long-gone but I tried to trace and connect the bits and pieces of that lost world in my project to see if old Sofia still exists.
The exhibition brief:
In 2019 it is the 140th anniversary since Sofia was selected as the capital of Bulgaria and the exhibition ‘Sofia – grows but never ages’ provides a glimpse of what Sofia used to look like in those early days and a comparison to the modern metropolis. When I started the project I didn’t notice that the two coincide but now that I know it, I will try to exploit this to the fullest and try to display the exhibition as much as possible.
Sofia is a contradiction in terms and one cannot be indifferent. It is loathed by some, loved by others. The capital of Bulgaria is one of the oldest cities in Europe with history spanning across three millennia – even before the time of Constantine the Great, there were settlements at this place. Many nations have passed through this area and each left its mark on the place. Architecture and culture were layered and now what the tourist can see is a palimpsest of styles and eras. 140 years ago, things were different. “Sofia – grows but never ages” aims to show this difference to the public.
Today, it is possible to see the temples of 4 religions within one square kilometer and to take a look into 4000 year old history. Often in our fast-paced daily routine, we do not notice those things around us.
The exhibition “Sofia – grows but never ages" aims to show how the emblematic places in Sofia downtown have changed and to be a bridge between the past and the future. For this reason, I selected real archive photos – provided by the Стара София blog. The contemporary photos are part of the Culture Crossroads project of Bistra Stoimenova Photography.
Each pane (see the FMP file) consists of an old image and a new one taken from roughly the same angle where that was possible. All images used date to the pre-communist and interbellum period (the majority being from the 1920s and 30s). Each pane comes with a QR code which I added to ensure that all the necessary information will be available regardless if I am there or not. It proved very useful for adding text about the place that cannot be fitted into the pane. It is linked to the exhibition website where the history of the place each old image has been added to the old images so that people know what they are seeing.
Style and editing (critical context):
For my project, focused on older buildings (created either in the interbellum period or before WWI) and selected images that depict them. Even though most of the places are accessible nowadays, selecting the right angle (doable angle, that is) proved to be quite the challenge. Another challenge was posed by the places themselves – I had some plans to photograph places that are unrecogniseable but they did not work out well in the end.
My aim was to try to capture each place from the same angle as it was in the original image and see how the environment around the place has changed. However that was not always possible (see the “angles” section for more information).
The ultimate idea of the project was to have it exhibited and I am glad I managed to pull it off– old and new images of one and the same place side by side. While I was creating the panes for print and the poster, I noticed that creating a “blend” between old and new images also looks really well so I created the four “double” panes. It turned out that not all images look well with this technique so only 4 panes made it to the final cut.
The exhibition will be on display throughout May. For convenience’s sake, the project is confined only to the downtown where most of the historical buildings are located. I did not want to focus on buildings created during the totalitarian era since the architectural style differs a lot and will try not to overdose the Totalitarian streak in the project. Some of my initial ideas also had to go off since the angles were not doable.
Title change
The initial title of the project was connected to the two iconic bridges that flank the downtown – the Lions bridge (lavov most) and the Eagles bridge (orlov most). However, taking pictures at the latter (the eagle one) proved to be next to impossible since it is a really busy transport artery and standing in the middle of it at any time of the day to take pictures equals suicide.
During the final preparation process, I decided to use the motto of Sofia as a title – the words “grows but never ages” are written of the town’s coat of arms and are used to symbolise the constant change in the urban environment. Sofia has seen many disasters – from natural ones to numerous invasions – but has always survived. The development of the urban environment shown in some images (all images are old but some show areas that have been completely transformed) convinced me that this is a good title since it is meaningful to Bulgarian people and it is short enough to remember (unlike the working title which proved too long).
The connection to the city of Sofia and its motto will also allow me to exploit this theme in the future.
Sources of information
My main sources of information and my main partner was the Memories from Old Sofia archive and blog http://stara-sofia.blogspot.com/ - a photo archive dedicated solely to the history of Sofia. Each week they post some useful information and imagery about Sofia and are usually very active. I asked for their support and expertise in both tracing the history behind the selected buildings but also in using some of the images on their website. They agreed to let me use their images free of charge and for educational purposes only (no selling etc.). I asked them to provide more images than I actually used due to angle problems. All images are their own copyright so there is no problem with that and they did not want anything else apart from a mention in the exhibition panes. They were also very quick to provide the necessary images. What is more, they have extensive information (available in Bulgarian only) about the places on their website as well as maps of how Sofia used to look like 100 years ago.
The art of re-photography - critical context and some talk on editing and display
I have always had a passion for old photographs and stories from the past. Given the long history of Sofia, there were plenty of stories to tell, by both my older relatives and the national archives.
Things were quite different in terms of re-photography since as far as I know, no colleague in Bulgaria has done something like that. Photographing abandoned buildings – yes, but no one has tried to capture one and the same place from the same angle as in some photograph taken some 100 years ago. Hence, I started looking globally and I found some stunning projects and artists.
One of the first projects that I encountered was Douglas Levere's New York Changing1 which portrayed the way New York (Manhattan in particular) has changed over the 20th century. The author started in the 1990s and used absolutely the same perspective as the one of the previous images. The images are displayed side by side, showing the differences (or lack of them, in some cases). At first, that seemed like a good approach to me. I was fascinated by the way Levere used the same perspective to show the stark changes.
I disliked the way he used monochrome though since that way one has trouble seeing which is the new and which one is the rephotographed image. Hence, I decided to work in colour so that all new images are clearly distinguishable.
As I later discovered, Levere’s approach (see fig.1 to the right) turned out to be one of the most conventional ones and I was aiming for something more ‘artsy’, interesting and attracting attention.
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| Fig.1 Douglas Levere - From Pier 11, East River, between Old Slip and Wall Street. 1936/1998. |
My initial idea for display was to have the old photograph on top of a bigger canvas (referenced and titled) and then have the re-photographed image below. I managed to do that but in my opinion the most interesting images are actually the “double panes” (see below).
This image shows the biggest change in the urban landscape – it is the monument of a national hero and saint – Vasil Levski – and is located on the [place Levski was hanged 140 years ago. When the first image was created – in the 1910s – that place was almost outside of town. Nowadays this is one of the busiest urban areas and is deemed “downtown”.
At first and up till a few days before the exhibition , it seemed like a good idea and a classic approach but at a second thought, it seemed too mundane. I needed to figure out what places I need to photograph (which was one of the biggest challenges throughout the project). While researching, I came across Andrzej Maciejewski’s project After Notman.
He selected iconic locations in Canada, photographed by William Notman in the 19th century and aimed to re-photograph them reproducing the same light, colours and shades. The project turned out to be a huge success since it was awarded by a local cultural magazine.
Maciejewski’s approach was also traditional – the images are displayed side by side and the processing is done in such a way that the two images visually resemble each other, as if they had been taken using the same method (see screengrab to the left). What I liked most and intend to use in my project, however, is the idea to select really iconic locations (I loved one of the images of a monument and re-used it in my own work – since one of the best images of the exhibition is also of a monument) and rephotograph them. Since the archives are full of images of Sofia that show random places that have changed drastically, it would not make much sense.
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| Fig.2 (left) William Notman & Son - St. Catherine Street Looking East from Stanley Street, Montreal, QC. 1915 (right) Andrzej Maciejewski - St. Catherine Street Looking East from Stanley Street, Montreal, QC. 2000. |
The iconic places, however, are a different story. They are recognizable and some have changed drastically. Hence, I compiled a list of the most famous locations around the downtown and intend to employ the idea used by Maciejewski’s and photograph only landmarks, not some random places simply because they have changed a lot. I decided to try to incorporate the style of Maciejewski into my work but there was one problem – colour. Maciejewski also used black and white and I preferred colour. Also, the layout of the images could not be the same as in Maciejewski’s work. The old scanned images did not have enough sharpness to be “stretched” to large sizes.
As good as these two projects are, they looked too traditional and something was missing for me. Maciejewski and Levere made me understand what re-photography is about and to get a glimpse of how it should be done – same angle and preferably same post-processing used – but I work in colour, not black and white and wanted to incorporate the coloured image into my work as well.
That was when I came across Vincent Zénon Rigaud’s work and was fascinated by it. He is a French photographer dedicated to re-photographing his native town of Reims through the ages. What I loved about his work (when I saw his website I was amazed by the editing idea) is that he not only re-photographs the place, he blends in the two images to create a new, stunning image, encompassing both old and new.
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| Fig.3 - Vincent Zénon Rigaud – Reims. 2017 (cover of a book by Yann Harlaut) |
I loved the approach since it was the first time I see something like that alongside the other rephotography projects, the one Rigaud did stood out. It was unique and not only showed two images side by side, it made a blend of two images, two historical periods and two traditions in one final image which made me stop and think.
In my double panes, I partially used Rigaud’s technique – creating a blend between old and new, as he did. Instead of blending the old image into the new one, I went for something a little different – dividing the image into old and new along a vertical axis thus showing the change in urban landscape (similar to the image above). I left the monuments unchanged, unlike what Rigaud did – hence half of the monument was left in the old image and the other half was in the new one. From what I saw at the opening, the “double” panes were along the most popular and photographed ones in the exhibition.
I liked his approach in terms of post-processing that I intend to use it in my own project (or adapt it, in case it does not work for the images I select). To me, Rigaud’s work is novel, artistic and documentary. I loved creating the “double panes” and will totally aim to create more images like that for the next display of the exhibition (since it will not be a one-off event, that is certain).
Angles:
As I mentioned in the introduction, some of the angles are different from those in the original images. The reasons for that vary. At some places, it was simply impossible to re-create the old image since there was real danger for me doing so (see image below).
The original image was taken in 1910 when the road must have been relatively peaceful. However, now this is one of the busiest roads in the country. I took quite the risk standing in the middle of it at red lights to take the re-photographed shot. When the lights changed to green, however, things were dangerous. This is closest I could get to the original (and I really loved the old image because of the tram).
At other cases – like the monument of Vasil Levski shown in another section – I decided to shift the angle a bit to show something that is important to the culture of Bulgaria.
I shifted the angle to show Vasil Levski’s portrait in the background since this way the composition speaks volumes to the Bulgarian observer (who was my target audience for the exhibition). In other case (when I needed to photograph Saint Alexander Nevski cathedral), I decided not to cut the building in half to show its magnificence. Another case was when I needed to photograph the monument of Sofia – there, to capture the whole of it (it is a very tall one), I needed to change the scale (since the old monument of Lenin that used to be there was much smaller).
Please refer to the CRJ for more extensive information.
Exhibition display
I used the small café of a friend of mine for the exhibition venue. It is a small cosy place that is to be opened in a week. The panes were hanged along the walls and created a really nice feeling of “being at home” since there is some furniture in the place. Overall, I am pleased with the display (how the images look like when displayed) and I aimed not to show the way the images are suspended (hence the colourless cord used to hang them).
The event (still ongoing, you can access it here - https://www.facebook.com/events/336460533917160/ ) received a really good reach due to help from colleagues and friends. The friend who owns the place also agreed to do the catering for the venue and to let me use her place as a gallery for as long as I want – hence the exhibition will be on display by the end of May.
There was also an opening video (see here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FduVV2n387o and as far as I can see quite a few people have already seen it on my YouTube channel.
One of the problems about the exhibition was the date – 01 Mat is a bank holiday in Bulgaria and the Orthodox Easter was the previous Sunday so most people had the whole week off and were out of town. Another problem was the location – the place is new and it is not very well geo-tagged so some people got lost on the way to it (I posted a map and directions, just in case).
What I love about it is that allowed me to collaborate with a dear friend of mine and to be part of her dream (to have her own restaurant). Besides, when the place opens, my exhibition will have a second opening and will get a lot of media attention (since my friend is an influencer and a young entrepreneur).
Further development
The exhibition is to be available at this location till the end of the month. I don’t plan any installations throughout the summer (since most people are out of town) but in September I plan to re-showcase it somewhere else.
Currently I am negotiating with the Sofia Metropoliten (the company that cares for the Sofia underground system) to have the exhibition displayed there – either in the trains themselves or in one of the metro stations.
Negotiations are under way to have it displayed in the Sofia University Rectorate building (probably at the beginning of the academic year in Bulgaria, which is in October 2019). The scope of the project allows that and they have amazing exhibition space (which needs to be pre-booked months in advance, unfortunately).
One of the biggest galleries in Sofia is also available for this, negotiations to have the exhibition placed there by the end of the year (it is a bit complicated since they have a lot of requests).
I am considering sending it to the museum of photography for display as well (still negotiating the time period).
The idea turned out to be a huge success so I will most probably continue developing it (and adding new images) throughout the year.
Audience response
The exhibition is to be available up till the 31st and the place where it is displayed is to be opened on the 21st so I expect a lot of visitors. The place owner also expects the media to come so within the next two weeks there is a lot to go on.
So far, people who have seen the exhibition (both on location and online, via the Facebook feed or the YouTube video) have given only positive feedback. The most popular images (and the most photographed ones – were the ones I call ‘double’, the blend of an old image and a new one of the same location.
So far, I have been praised that I have shown the way a contemporary place looked like 100 years ago and the way it is now (a woman noted that it was a good idea to show not only the ‘blended’ image BUT also the two images side by side so that people can see the landscape in full).
I am awaiting more responses throughout the upcoming weeks.
List of figures:
Figure 1 – Levere, Douglas - From Pier 11, East River, between Old Slip and Wall Street. 1936/1998
Available at: http://www.newyorkchanging.com/pier11.html [accessed 03 May 2019]
Figure 2 – (left) Notman, William, & Son - St. Catherine Street Looking East from Stanley Street, Montreal, QC. 1915
(right) Maciejewski, Andrzej - St. Catherine Street Looking East from Stanley Street, Montreal, QC. 2000.
Available at: http://www.klotzekstudio.com/After_Notman_big_12.html [accessed 03 May 2019]
Figure 3 – Zénon Rigaud, Vincent - Reims. 2017
Available at: https://www.vincentzenon.com [accessed 03 May 2019]
Book available here: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/3831327858/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_ep_dp_fooZAbA34PQFZ
References:
Lost Bulgaria website – archive of images of Bulgaria within the past two centuries and a half
Available at: http://www.lostbulgaria.com/ [accessed 03 May 2019]
Douglas Levere's project, New York Changing
Available at: http://www.newyorkchanging.com [accessed 03 May 2019]
Andrzej Maciejewski’s project After Notman
Award by Scopio community and magazine
Available at: http://www.scopionetwork.com/pt-pt/node/159?language=en#1 [accessed 03 May 2019]
Personal website:
Available at: http://www.klotzekstudio.com/ [accessed 03 May 2019]
Vincent Zénon Rigaud’s personal website
Available at: https://www.vincentzenon.com [accessed 03 May 2019]
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