Hommage to the Masters of Photography

Art Gallery Serdica Presents
Hommage to the Masters of Photography
An Exhibition of Students from the Bachelor’s Program Photography of New Bulgarian University

Period: 19th of June – 17th of July, 2020

From the 19th of June till the 17th of July in Art Gallery Serdica the fans of photography can enjoy the exhibition “Hommage to the masters of photography “, in which students from the Bachelor’s progra Photography at the New Bulgarian University (NBU) will show their reaction and sensitivity to the work of over 20 world-famous photographers. Curator of the exhibition is Dr. Lilyana Karadjova.

The students from NBU demonstrate their respect for the masters of photography, whose high manifestation is found in the French hommage, which we translate into Bulgarian as “почит (honor).” Etymologically, the word refers to medieval France, where the word “hommage” is used to mean loyalty to the feudal lord. In this spirit of glorification and self-denial, the hommages in photography pay loyalty to a significant figure, but they also carry ambiguity. They suggest the audacity that historical ideas and images can be interpreted, as well as developed. They show that famous works can be rethought in a different light and perspective, in a different place and with new participants.

Homages allow young authors to shorten the distance to the great teachers, to enter into an imaginary dialogue with them, to turn them into their imaginary colleagues and creative companions. The history of photography is presented as a living whole of processes and phenomena, the participants in which are awaiting for our creative commentary.

The visitors of Art Gallery Serdica will find citations from the decadent daily round of the 19th century photographer Henri Le Secq, from the classic portraits of Irving Penn, the poetics of the everyday life of Josef Sudek, the metaphorical photographs of Imogen Cunningham, the unadulterated humor of Robert Dauno, the unconventional Duane Mitchells and Jürgen Klauke, the personal experiences of Nan Goldin.

The black-and-white photographs in the Art Gallery Serdica create a bridge to the masters through similarity to their means of expression, and the several colorful graphic interpretations insist that their place is in the language of the present. The pleasure of discovering the citations in the exhibition is left to the visitors themselves. They can repeatedly experience the pleasant surprise of guessing. Those who wish will be able to test their assumptions by opening a short catalog of the citations.

We expect you, from the 19th of June, to the 17th of July, 2020 in Art Gallery Serdica, to enjoy together with us the new reading of the famous works of some of the most eminent names in world photography. Welcome!

Art Gallery Serdica is located at the Zhenski Pazar Market on the corner of Stefan Stambolov Blvd. and Lozengrad St. Pazari Vazrazhdane is the municipal association that administers the Zhenski Pazar Market