NOMAD

“Where are you from?” is the question I always struggle to answer. I was born in Bulgaria but left as a teenager and for the last 25 years have lived in culturally-shocking Florida, bohemian San Francisco, intense New York City, gloomy London and inspiring Florence. Italy is my artistic home, the Greek islands is where I find my escape and I speak French with a Haitian accent thanks to my college roommate. I fell in love with Africa, discovered the zen of life in the far East, but I am equally enchanted with Petra.

The dilemma of cultural identity, the living between sometimes completely contradictory worlds, the search for your aesthetic belonging and the constant feeling of being on the road, are emotions closely familiar to anyone who has had multiple homes whether by choice or not. For the few decades I have lived a life of a nomad, the one thing that has solidified over time and maintained a constant presence are my Bulgarian roots and value system. The rest is a cultural mix of impressions and experiences of all the places I have travelled to, the people I have met, the art I have seen, the music I listened to and the food I enjoyed.

For awhile I have wanted to present these feelings, and trans-geographic existence in a photographic way. This past July, the amazing fashion professionals Slav & Huben, as well as the beautiful Julen Cholak helped me bring this vision to reality in the streets and alleys of our home-town of Sofia.

The mood board covered various aspects of a woman on the road, a soul who stands against the backdrop, unable to blend into its texture. It is the “Neo MOMA” between two worlds, dressed with layers of experiences. A world nomad, adorned with seemingly incompatible yet complimentary accessories, and added knots and ties, which measure her level of “gypsiness”. The hats and turbans, or the pseudo “zabradka” (head scarf) which invite you to look closely in order to truly see what’s under. All of these details were meant to reflect the richness of foreign worlds and experiences, as much as the subtle underlining theme of a Bulgarian base. Slav & Huben masterfully put together the looks, sourcing the outfits from contemporary Bulgarian labels ZOË, Magdalena Alex, Vernissage, They Are and Veza, which blend antique Bulgarian garments into modern casual pieces. My favorite accessory and a deeply touching one, were the “pafti” from Slav’s mother’s wedding gown. “Pafti” is a typical ornament in Bulgarian folklore, a symbol of feminine strength, fertility, the family center, the beauty and power that a woman carries. There couldn’t be a better ornament which represents both what my photography aims to capture, as well as the anchor to my roots especially in times I feel lost in the world.

The locations where we shot strategically represented places of conflict between worlds. The yellow cobblestones is the place the communist regime saw its end, the street alley which reminds me of the “gangs of New York” but also happened to be the address of Bulgarian Secret Service and their horrifying interrogation rooms, the courtyard of the modern government headquarters in the proximity of one of the oldest basilicas in Europe. Last but not least, we sourced a LADA 1977 and paired it with a chic ex-agrarian look accessorized with a retro briefcase. As the epitome of a socialist family means of transportation, and my initial mode of discovering farther territories, this set is the beginning and the end to a “lost in translation” journey.