Karamazov took a picture of a boy from a Rhodopean village, now people from all over the world are voting for her

Vlado Karamazov discovered two very important things in the fall of 2017 – the Rhodopes and the camera.

Then he filmed the crime series “Devil’s Throat” and because of it he lived for two months in Smolyan and the surrounding villages. Then he was forever captivated by the beauty of the majestic mountain. But this is also the period in which his passion for photography became so strong that he already accepted it as his second vocation. After acting, of course.

Thus, in recent years, the Rhodopes and camera photography have become an integral part of Karamazov’s life. Moreover, they help him to become one of the world names in photography and to become a finalist in a prestigious annual competition of the American Smithsonian Institution. He enters it with two shots, one of which is 11-year-old Yusuf from the village of Krastava.

“I often travel around the Rhodopes, where most small settlements are almost deserted or only with elderly people. But when I went to the Yundol region, I was surprised that the villages are full of life, with young people, and children play on all the streets, “says Karamazov.

At the end of

your journey

reaches the Cross,

where he sees many children again. One of them, Yusuf, immediately agreed to show him the village. “He was very open, awake, he started to take us. And only when I saw how cool he was, I was no longer interested in anything else and I started shooting only him “, Karamazov remembers. The shots with the boy became so good that they won more than one or two awards from Karamazov’s photo competitions.

So he decided to take them out on paper – print them on large sheets, put them in the trunk and go back to the Rhodopes. When he arrives in Krastava, it turns out that Yusuf is at school. This does not stop the actor – he goes to the boy’s classroom, gives him the gift, and all the children have smiles on their faces.

Only a few months later, Karamazov learned that two of his photographs, one of which with Yusuf, entitled The Boy from the Mountain, had been selected by an international jury for finalists in the Smithsonian magazine competition – the largest research and educational institute in the United States.

As soon as he learns about the selection, Vlado immediately calls to praise Yusuf. “He was so happy, it’s a big event for him and for the whole village. Yesterday I heard him again – he is in seventh heaven. I keep in mind Yusuf, his parents who live and work abroad, his brother and grandmother, who now take care of him. “

The other shot, with which the actor entered the prestigious photo competition, he shot at the beginning of last year. Shortly after the first wave of coronavirus was announced in Bulgaria and people were advised to stay at home to protect themselves from the infection, Vlado decided to move to live with his parents for a while. This will both help them more and not worry that it endangers their health.

With his parents

is isolated in

family

house and does not go out

almost nowhere

The weather outside is sunny and warm and Vlado really wants to return to photography. But where to go, what to shoot?

The only place where he would feel calmer is the yard of the house. So he takes the macro lens, which allows the camera to get as close as possible to the subject, and discovers a new world through it. It turns out that he can shoot unexpected scenes and objects not elsewhere, but in his backyard.

So every day he finds new objects and animals to photograph, and among them is a group of snails. For 3-4 days Karamazov did not stop photographing the small animals – he tried them on a different background, moved them from one place to another.

Spray them with water,

to help them

to survive

“It simply came to our notice then. I was very pleased that even in such isolation I could practice photography, to progress in it. ” Many of the snails do not survive in the end, so Vlado decides to title the frame with them “Goodbye, family”, making an association with the pandemic in which we all live. “Since only one of the snails survived, I made a comparison with the people who died in the pandemic and how their loved ones should continue their journey without them,” says the actor.

The Smithsonian’s contest is free and hundreds of people from all over the world send their photos for it. So the competition is really fierce. But the strainer for participation is also very big. One of the conditions is that there is no photomanipulation. That’s why when Smithsonian likes a photo, they ask the author to send it a raw version – to make sure it hasn’t been altered in any way. At the next stage, he must send documents – if there is a person in the photo, for example, he must give written permission for it to be used. If there is a child in the frame, his parents must agree to show it. “Contracts are signed that if a photo is selected, it can be shown around the world in exhibitions, in various media,” says the actor.

He began to take photography more seriously after a conversation with director Pavel Vesnakov. In addition to their joint work on “Devil’s Throat”, the two have enough time to discuss Vlado’s hobby.

Vesnakov him

encourages to

keeps shooting

giving him some practical advice – she even tells him what equipment to take.

Imperceptibly, Karamazov became more and more profound in his knowledge and experience in photography. He reads a lot, is interested, buys different equipment. And so it comes to photo contests, in which he finds both inspiration and motivation. Sam decided to take part in the Smithsonian race 2 years ago, sending them 5-6 of his shots. Soon the finalists come out, he also votes for his favorites and still dreams of seeing his photo on the website of the American magazine. One day this came true – his shot was chosen by the Smithsonian for a photo of the day. This is actually the title shot that comes out on the site and further encourages the actor to continue to pursue his new passion.

With his photos Vlado also won awards such as the bronze medal from the international Italian competition Natural World 2020, the three awards from another world competition – Chromatic Photo Awards 2020, in the most prestigious categories “Portrait”, “Travel” and “People”. Last March, the world’s largest authoring photography platform published two photos of him from his travels in the Rhodopes and Norway. At the beginning of the year, Karamazov won second place in a competition in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Italian edition of Vogue magazine published two photos of him. In February

won gold

and a silver medal

from one of the leading British

international exhibitions

– 75th Photography Salon in Bristol. His photo also won a gold medal at a world competition in Spain.

Now the big prize is his two shots in the 18th edition of the Smithsonian’s competition. In it, each photographer fights not so much for the first place as to be chosen among the finalists. They are arranged in six categories, each with 10 photos. People from all over the world – amateurs, fans, professionals, can vote for them until March 31. Finally, the photo with the most votes from the audience will be chosen, and the jury will select the best of each category, as well as its favorite from the 60 finalists.

As soon as he tells for the first time about his success in this competition, everyone around Vlado is really happy. Relatives, colleagues and strangers share his story so that more people can find out about it and vote in the competition. “There is a patriotic spirit and people can easily unite around a really good cause. They are fed up with the problems and when they see something real and pleasant related to our country, they write about it, comment on it “, says Vlado.

Along with the coronary crisis, he became quite isolated and felt that he had to make an effort to return to his previous way of life. The pandemic also has a strong impact on his professional engagements in the theater. After a 7-month break, he returned to the stage of the National Theater in October, and in early January – in his iconic production at Theater 199 “The Fisherman and His Soul”. “But it’s still strange – we play in front of a small audience, as required, with a hall capacity of 30%. You can’t feel people’s reaction to the masks on their faces. There is no noise in the theater that we are used to. ”

– .