I’ve painted since I was little, but things never seemed complete…as if I had more to say. And then my parents bought a digital camera. I started chasing the cat – she was my first model. Then I chased my two bigger sisters. Butterflies, flowers – that is what a child likes to shoot. I wanted to become a photographer and my parents wanted me to become an engineer. For them, spending money to send me to a photo course was unthinkable. I enrolled at the Varna Technical University, majoring in Computer Science. In the first year, a friend of mine told me that her dad started free photo classes and that is how I joined the Dedal School of Arts. I fell in love immediately. It felt like home. A better home. The environment was wonderful – creative chaos and full acceptance. Our teacher there was Tsetso Trankov – the best! Each Saturday, he took us out to shoot and on Sundays we discussed. There was homework and at the end of each year – an exhibit at crazy places: the local court, the Varna Radio.
In 2012 I left for Magdeburg in Germany with the Erasmus Exchange Program. At that time, I was already experimenting with double exposure. At first I was superposing portraits but that seemed a little schizophrenic. Later I put landscapes on portraits. It was pure coincidence that the double exposure technique became extremely trendy in 2012.
I published my photos in Behance – an on-line platform for designers, photographers and illustrators. One day they included me in their Editor’s Choice. And people started calling me. The Diesel designers asked to use one of my portraits on their Spring-Summer 2015 collection. It is very strange to see your face on thousands of T-shirts. I was on the cover of Better Photography in India. The British #Photography Magazine published my works, as well as other design and photography media in China and Saudi Arabia. But my real dream came true when specialized designer blogs which I have been following for years published my photos. The power of the internet!
Now I work at DDB – one of the best and most awarded advertising agencies in Sofia. I am responsible for McDonald’s and EVN. I guess I am lucky to always be in a great environment – my colleagues are wonderful. But my heart is in Varna and whenever I go back home, I visit Dedal…not so much as a mentor and a helper, but as a forever friend.
Aneta Ivanova, a graduate of Dedal School of Arts, Varna
