Jacko Vassilev and Bulgaria

[aldevo]

I stumbled upon this photographer quite by accident. My father happened to take a trip to the north shore of Massachusetts a couple weeks ago and struck up a conversation with a woman who turned out to be Vassilev's wife. Knowing my interest in photography, my father passed along his name to me.

Anyhow, he is originally from Bulgaria and the people of that country are the central theme in most of his work.

I, generally, do not do much in the way of photographing people in their envrionment. I think this mostly stems from a lingering fear of confrontation that I have. As a result, I am fascinated by photographers who are comfortable doing this sort of thing - as Vassilev obviously is.

Anyhow, I visited his site (Dead Link Removed) and came away very impressed at his obvious talent for what HCB would have called "the decisive moment" and I think it stems from a thorough understanding of his subjects.

I'm curious as to what others think. It's quite striking to note that he began his career as a technical photographer at an electrical supply company!

Don't worry; he appears to be strictly analog. Curiously, the prints he has for sale are on an old communist-era paper brand known as "Fohar". I wonder if anybody has heard of it.

 

[mabman]

Thanks for posting this - never heard of him, but he does have a certain style I like. For some intangible reason I'm particularly drawn to Dead Link Removed.

 

[mabman]

Just a note, before Christmas I bought a print of the above. He does charge a premium for prints made on the Bulgarian photo paper (which is his prerogrative, authenticity and rarity, etc), but he will also do a print on modern paper for a very reasonable price.

I dealt mostly with his wife, Valentina - very nice, easy to deal with. Definitely someone I'd consider buying from again.

 

[carasikart]

Discovering Jacko Vassilev

I also met Valentina who showed me a few of his images; I was reminded of Roman Vishniac's photography amd Laurence Salzmann of Philly.
I really want to purchase his book which is out of print.

Anyway I was very egaged by his amazing work. He has an eye for lighting/composition/ subject and NUANCE.
I ended up purchasing for my own collection.

I sent a link to a photographer who has a gallery in CHicago; he said "too sad"
I so disagree, he see's beauty in everything, and is not purposefully selecting Diane Arbus type characters, just everyday people who are not models!

 

[roberta robinson]

I just met this photographer yesterday while he was wandering around Lexington, Va. We shared a lively and lovely conversation during which he told me about his life, his work and shared his
portfolio. I have to say, some of his photographs had a deeply emotional impact on me. I have been to both Bulgaria and Romania and so recognized some of the settings and where the people
were from. It is an hour of conversation I will not soon forget, he is charmingly old world, soft spoken and a wonderful story teller, with or without his camera.