Interview with Fine Art Landscape photographer Samuil Velichkov | MONOVISIONS

MonoVisions Black & White Photo Contest 2024

I was born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria in 1962. Photography was just a hobby in my school years. Since 2007 I discovered photography as a fine art and it has become a real passion for me.

I prefer black and white landscape photography, long exposures, square format. For me photography is something very intimate. It’s an escape from my daily round and a means to make others look through my point of view.

I have always tried to make viewer feel the atmosphere and the emotion in the frame, refracted through my worldview, which is frequently different from the reality.

1. How and when did you become interested in photography?

First I got interested in photography in my early school years. It happened imperceptibly and irreversibly. Maybe it all began when I got my first camera “Smena 8M” which was a present from my father. I was very impressed by the magic that occurs in the dark room /in my case it was a well darkened kitchen/.

2. Is there any artist/photographer who inspired your art?

It’s always has been difficult for me to determine a favourite photographer.
I like so many photographers, every day I discover a new name. I would mention: Sebastiаo Salgado, Robert Capa, Josef Sudek, Don Hong-Oai, Vivian Maier, Nick Brandt… it’s a long list.
I feel deep attraction for the East art – the traditional monochrome painting, the japanese woodblock print, the calligraphy, haiku.

3. Why do you work in black and white rather than colour?

Black and white photography make me seeking the beauty under the surface.
For me the colour pictures are an exact reflection of a scene. That makes their value deplete. Black and white photography is different. Its magic is in the delicate and elegant interacting between structure and emotion, light and darkness. When you remove the colours from a picture you also remove all the unnecessary layers and the result is a clear form and its essence.

4. How much preparation do you put into taking a photograph/series of photographs?

Sometimes I am lucky and fall in the right place at the right time, but unfortunately it’s rarely. Most of my photographs have been carefully planned and I have been returned back several times to the same locations at different seasons and even in different years, to come across appropriate conditions for a good shot.
I love the technique of long exposure and use it very often in my work.

5. Where is your photography going? What projects would you like to accomplish?

I am on a way to make my second solo exhibition, which will be in March at Plovdiv. I have recently got interested in some alternative photography processes. I hope that I will show my first successful attempts in the near future.

Website: www.samuilvelichkov.com