Color Blues

βalkan Urban League w/o Borders

The Bulb Collective has been founded in January 2015 by Michail after an Open Day held in Bucharest. Since 2015 the collective has widen its geographical scope and it presently consists of photographers from 6 countries in the Balkans.

The collective consists of photographers active in urban (and rural) photography with an expressive shift to include highly aesthetic and poetic images in their assignments.

They share the same vision but not the same perspective which gives the necessary "polyphony" in their extremely ambitious endeavour to cover all the aspects of the Balkan neorealism.

Their visual signatures aspire to create iconic images and to be the best in metamorphosing and interpreting all aspects of life in this highly contradictory and fascinating part of the world.

2/28/2018

Color Blues

Color Blues is inspired by the never ending “transition” that Bulgaria is going through - both political and social. A transition that started in 1989 and 29 years later this process hasn’t come to an end. We are is still living in the consequences of failed political regimes. These processes are mirrored and discovered in everyday life, in the people that are walking the streets, in the background of our habitat.

It is about the melancholy, sadness, despair and alienation that I encounter roaming the streets of my hometown - Sofia. Shooting black and white, focusing only on the raw and harsh moments of everyday life would have been the most obvious thing. But I decided to approach everyday life from a different perspective - color. А more poetic, subjective visual language which could have been possible only in color. I use color not only as the sole protagonist but to direct viewer’s gaze and create dialogue. To depart from the mere representation of facts in images that create tension and ambiguity. Looking for visual paradox expressed through the use of color and combining elements that create distinctive atmosphere. (Photos and text by Martin Iliev)