How Has a Bulgarian Photo with a Tram Turned into a Meme as far as in Tokyo
Ivan Shishiev – а photographer and creator of The Etudes of Sofia has devoted the last years of his life to the so-called Street Photography and shows our capital as a city that breathes, walks, smiles, cries, grieves, beats with life. He became popular with an iconic photo on Palms’ Sunday which featured a gobsmacked tram-driver and a woman crossing in front of him.
The photo gave rise to various memes and stirred a lot of interest on social media. Shishiev is from a small village near Sandanski, but he loves Sofia as a place that gives him life
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How Has a Bulgarian Photo with a Tram Turned into a Meme as far as in Tokyo
Shishiev is from a small village near Sandanski, but he loves Sofia as a place that gives him life. Every day he takes his camera and walks around streets, squares, courtyards, neighborhood alleys and inter-block spaces looking for something beautiful in doors, windows, mailboxes.
In an interview, Shishiev said that he graduated from the Theological Seminary because his father is a priest, but he turned to photography. Before taking photos in Sofia, he used to film goats and sheep in the countryside. When the occupation of the university in Sofia began, Shishiev bought a camera with the idea of photographing a few things. He traveled around Western Europe, he photographed cathedrals. When he came back to Sofia, he started photographing the city, and showed the photos only to his friends. Months later, he published them, and he has been doing it for 8 years now.
About the iconic shot with the tram, Shishiev says:
That was the photo that blew up. It even appeared as a meme in Tokyo. It was a sought-after moment and I pointed the camera lens there.
The photographer adds that he does not put a watermark on his photos because, according to him, if a person likes a photo, he/she will approve it, regardless of who the author is. When asked what might impress him in an urban landscape, Shishiev points out that it depends on what exactly is happening at that moment. He says that when he photographs people, he stands at a distance, with the idea of not disturbing them.
"I try to photograph them without them seeing me because if they notice me, they start posing and the photo is already ruined, it doesn't work," says the photographer.
Shishiev identifies Kremikovtsi and Hadzhi Dimitar neighborhoods as his favorites for photography because of the murals on the walls. When asked what kind of Sofia he wants to photograph in 10 years, the photographer says that he wants to photograph a better Sofia, with more smiling and better people
"People who like the city. That is my idea. Cobblestones, potholes or whatever, everything will be fine. People who care about their city - this should remain," adds Shishiev.
Source: vbox7.com
