Denislav Stoychev is the author of the photographic series "Be Human: Ambassadors of Kindness", which won second place in the “Photography” category of the Civic Alarm Clock 2021 competition for socially engaged art, organized by the Bulgarian Center for Not-for-Profit Law.

 

Denislav Stoychev - the photojournalist

Denislav Stoychev is originally from Yambol. His interest in photography stems from a very young age. Since the ninth-tenth grade, he hardly parted with his camera. For him photography is a way of life, an opportunity to capture and perceive the world. "Photography is the form of expression that I know best. Photography - when I am in the position of its recipient, not its creator - is a tempting opportunity to get a taste of other people's everyday life, environment, situations," says the young artist.

"I take photographs because I can't draw at all, and writing requires time. I cannot express in two sentences what I can capture in 1/125 of a second. And nowadays, texts of more than two sentences are considered long and unreadable."

He is passionate about photojournalism and has been telling the stories of ordinary people through his art for years. "The main subjects of my photographs are small town life, volunteering, Orthodoxy, post-communism, young people, transport..." Curiously, despite travelling and shooting abroad, Denislav's projects are all about life in Bulgaria - "from encouraging volunteering to sharing the post-industrial atmosphere, from communicating personal sentimentalities to capturing the present in a snapshot."

 

About the photographic series "Be Human: Ambassadors of Kindness"

The photographic series "Be Human: Ambassadors of Kindness" captures moments of humanity and warmth. Volunteers visit lonely seniors, sick people and families in need to donate food and supplies and most importantly to show them that they are not alone. "I've been shooting the "Be Human" campaign in the Yambol region since its beginning in 2015. The photo stories and individual photos are being published in the media and on social networks. Volunteers share photographs, videos and text as well. Thus, each campaign has more raised funds and more volunteers. I believe photography has played a big part in that. The visualization of not just the activities, but also the appreciative looks of the people receiving support attracts potential new volunteers. The emotions of meetings, the context of situations and places, even the colors and light could be expressed through text, but with good photography, this happens instantly. And there is no need for translation," says Denislav.

Sometimes people come together to help those in need on appropriate occasions such as holidays. Denislav thinks that this is the case because oftentimes helping is not part of our everyday life or our leisure plans. "There must be holidays coming up, there must be organized activities, familiar faces to motivate one to participate... On the other hand, there are also people for whom charity is common sense and comes so naturally that they do not even consider it as such. When it comes to an urgent need for support, both today and in history, man has always helped," he adds.

About the socially engaging role of photography

For Denislav, photography is an extremely powerful tool for change. It can document reality, but it can also create new realities, manipulate. "Two-dimensional capturing of actual people, scenes and actions brings unparalleled credibility. Much greater than that of text, where the only guarantor is the integrity of its author," he says.

"The last two centuries would not have been the same without photography. People could have received information about the world near and far, but would have interpreted the stories and illustrations through their own prism. Pacifism would hardly have spread without images of the horrors of war. Corruption would meet no public backlash if there were no visual examples of its damage to societies. Cultures would be distant from each other and unfamiliar. Standards of living would not rise when nations have no visual examples that life can be better. Photography activates people every day to change and improve the world we are in," is the opinion of the young artist.

About kindness

For Denislav, being an ambassador of kindness is simple. "Oh, it's easy. Doing good and involving others in it," he says.

"Being ambassadors of kindness is part of our moral duty. It's above civic and it's universal to all modern cultures and religions."

Through his photographs, Denislav wants to show people that "life is bright, kind-hearted people are everywhere in our midst and that there is always hope. And that these are not sugar-coated meaningless phrases, rather truth."

Fake News

Today the world is suffering from yet another type of pandemic - that of misinformation.

"Manipulative journalism has been bothering me even before the term 'fake news' was introduced. Frightening ignorance, lack of critical thinking and lack of informational culture allow fake news to flourish," says the photographer.

How to fight fake news? According to the young photographer, it will be a difficult and long process. "It would be the intelligent research and presentation of facts, the refutation of falsehood with arguments without interfering with personal preferences. There are fact-checking organizations, including ones at news agencies. Social networks have some algorithms to prevent the spread of fake news," says Denislav. "We need more opinion leaders to explain and educate, if there are any authoritative ones left. However, I am not optimistic on this topic. You see how often political figures and leaders irresponsibly quote fake news. You also see how polarized in their views the active users of social networks are, how many people surround themselves with (dis)information sources that do not deliver reliable data, but only reinforce given positions with pseudo-arguments.”

About the creativity during a pandemic

In the circumstances of a pandemic, Denislav continues to preserve pieces of reality in his photos. "My photographs can currently be seen live in Plovdiv, at the Hindlian House in the Old Town, where my exhibition "And life went on" opened on October 17, as part of the International Photography Meetings. In it, I share about 700 photographs from the past year in a pandemic that motivate my position that our lives may not be unbearably changed, and the "new normal" is not universal." He has photographed this exhibition entirely with a phone. Which proves how much you can achieve with just a phone and a dose of humanity.

 

About the support from the prize fund

Denislav Stoychev is among the "Second Place" artists in the fourth edition of the Civic Alarm Clock competition for socially engaged art, who received a cash prize of 120 BGN. The funds for the competition's prize fund were raised thanks to generous donors and activists who joined the Bulgarian Center for Not-for-Profit Law's donation campaign in April and May 2021.

Denislav is using the prize money to cover important, pressing household expenses relevant to his creative development.

Exhibition "DIGITAL RESET: Rights and Freedoms in the Virtual World" 2021

The photographic series "Be Human: Ambassadors of Kindness" is part of the exhibition "DIGITAL BREAK: Rights and Freedoms in the Virtual World" 2021. At the core of the creative works featured in the exhibition is the digital transformation of the three fundamental civil rights that are the essence of civic participation - association, peaceful assembly and freedom of speech, captured through the artistic gaze of the 16 winning artists in the 2021 Civic Alarm Clock competition.

In 2022, the fifth edition of the Civic Alarm Clock competition will take place. If you would like to support young talents who are creating rights-speaking art, you can donate to them now.

 For more information - contact us at budilnik@bcnl.org.

---

The material was prepared with the financial support of the America for Bulgaria Foundation and the Sofia Municipality under the SP "Culture" for 2021.