The Project

-------The idea lying behind the fundraising photo exhibit eyes.of.grief has gradually developed over the last six months. I considered it a good way to combine my two passions – photography and charity – in order to create a project that would benefit those put in an unequal position. My interaction with different people allowed me to untangle the details about the form the project would have. The feedback I was given at the presentation of my idea during the Global Leadership Program in Prague, the Czech Republic helped me structure the three parts in detail, so that I would be able to start my work in August, 2005.

-------The project consists of three main parts: digital photography training, fundraising photo exhibit, and a follow-up panel discussing the process of the development and implementation of the charity campaign. The digital photography training was conducted in Haskovo, Bulgaria from August 15 to August 20, 2005 at the Crisis Center Building of Prof.Dr.Assen Zlatarov Orphanage. I provided both practical and theoretical information to thirteen of the inhabitants of the orphanage on the history of photography, photography techniques, digital processing, and the application of digital photography in today’s world. Guest lecturers from the media and advertising industries introduced the children to the specifics of their fields in a very informal way. Joro Koleff talked about photography in advertising and showed samples of his work. For our media session, we went to the headquarters of “Haskovska Maritza” – a local daily newspaper. There the participants were introduced to digital photo processing and worked with photography software.

-------Apart from the more theoretical part, the group had a one-day-long shootout, where the children were able to implement the knowledge they had gained. It had a fascinating result – most of the pictures of the exhibit were taken during the shootout by the participants.