about-portrait
HI THERE, I AM

Samuil

A self-taught, award-winning fine art photographer from Plovdiv, Bulgaria.

Photography was just a hobby in my school years, until I rediscovered it as
a fine art and it has become a real passion for me.

I prefer black and white landscape photography, long exposures, square format.

My work has linked me to scuba diving, which has become my second passion.
That is how scuba diving led me to underwater photography.

Last years, my interest was almost entirely focused on something new to me – portrait photography.

ARTIST STATEMENT

  Whenever I take photos, I do it for myself. Over the years I have called this process in different ways – hobby, passion, escape, challenge, sanctuary, adventure. Today the only word that I associate with photography is love.

 My photos do not have the purpose of sending a message, looking for truths, making an impression. They are just pieces of the reality I see and feel. When I share them with the spectator, I only hope that I manage to make him stop for a moment and cross the threshold of the frame. And there to find his own reality, own associations and emotions. It is not mandatory, but it is always pleasing when that happens.

I love black and white photography. Nowadays it is important for a lot of people to know why, but not for me. It is just an internal necessity, a part of me, an attempt of а gaze beyond the surface. Till recently I have defined myself as a landscape photographer. Until the moment I realised, that the definition and qualifications are meaningless. I prefer to be one of those amateurs, of which A. Stieglitz speaks – “As the name implies, an amateur is one who works for love.”