2009
Light and cult
This is a photographic project about the rock-cut sacred places of the Thracians in Bulgaria.
The “Light and cult” series started in the fall of 2009. I was taking a day trip the plateau of Belintash and the sun was slowly setting in the west. Suddenly I noticed that the elongated shadows had drawn a symmetrical shape on the rocks, carved by a human hand. I had passed by this spot several times during the day, but it was only then that I saw it.
The incident made me think that one of the keys to understanding the ancient mysteries was hidden in the sunlight. At daylight many details on the surface of the rocks are invisible simply because the light is hiding these reliefs. And since my everyday work is directly related to the knowledge and use of light, I was attracted by the idea of experimenting with it in a new direction.
I started taking photos of the rock monuments at night, focusing only on certain details by using local lighting. The nature of night images added to the mystique of the already magical Eastern Rhodope sanctuaries.
Gradually, with the development of the project, I started adding to the series interesting daytime images as well.
The story was published in the Bulgarian edition of National Geographic Magazine (June 2013) and it was exhibited during the Month of Photography ’13 in Credo Bonum Gallery, Sofia.
Follow the link bellow to find the photographed places on the map:
https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?mid=zVEkQ4jF74Ro.kS6wXS19IEfE
more info about the rock-cut monuments:
http://www.rock-cut.thracians.org/
more info about the Thracians heritage:
http://www.omda.bg/public/engl/history/bulgarias_thracian_heritage.htm
