The Local: Stilyana Ivanova

I realised I saw the world differently when I started noticing things.

When people began asking what on earth I was staring at. It’s as though my brain lights up and starts layering images like a game of solitaire. Meanwhile, there are things I don’t notice at all, like the crack in the kerb I’m about to trip over. And there are things I never photograph. Nature. I just immerse myself in it. People, though? I can spend hours studying fragments of a particular specimen. How did it start? Concert photography. But I soon realised I only enjoy crowds when I’m dancing. My eye doesn’t take in the whole scene; it always picks out the person trying to disappear into it. That’s how portrait photography came along. Product photography? Oh, that’s where I get to unwind. There’s time to play, especially since I moved to Plovdiv.

For anyone who knows me as the girl with the camera from GoGuide: I’m a Plovdiv local now.

Sofia gave me speed but took away the quiet. Love and Plovdiv arrived like a whirlwind. They’re teaching me to stop chasing time down boulevards and let it ripen instead. Yes, Sofia is my skin, but it’s peeling, like after too much sun. And Plovdiv? I can’t fit it into one frame. It’s an onion, all those layers. When I don’t feel like taking photographs, I disappear somewhere high up or deep down and give my eyes a rest. Otherwise, there’s a plan every day: enjoy myself.

Disco ball

Light breaks into pieces and everything starts to pulse. I associate it with rhythm, impulse. Energy that gets me out of the door.

Lipstick

A timeless classic. Juicy lips! Love it!

Sunglasses

I hide my stern gaze behind them. They let me study people without making them uncomfortable. And they protect my eyes, the storehouse of my visual memory.

The Local: Ira Zhivkova

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