Or how did it all begin?
Photovacation is a unique photographic event that has been held for more than 20 years. Nevertheless, it is difficult to find many written sources about its history.
To reconstruct the story of the event, we interviewed one of its creators back in 1982 – Igor Chipev, executive secretary of the then “Club of Photographic Workers” within the state enterprise “Bulgarian Photography” – and the organizer of Photovacation from 1995 to 2010 – Yuriy Treyman.
The idea of Photovacation emerged in the early 1980s during socialist Bulgaria. At that time the state enterprise “Bulgarian Photography” was fully responsible for photographic life in the country. Contests and exhibitions were organized; there was even a large “Biennial of Bulgarian Photography” — a competition and review of Bulgarian photographic art. Yet those times offered no freedom for creativity. If someone wanted to convey a serious message through photography, they had to comply with the requirements of the Central Committee, which dictated what could and could not be shown.
Because of these creative restrictions, the “Club of Photographic Workers” decided to create an event that would give photographers more freedom. The event had to be far from the eyes of the Central Committee, far from Sofia. Thus the idea was born to stage a photographic gathering similar to the already popular arts forum Apollonia. It was Apollonia that provided the basic blueprint for Photovacation.
By then Apollonia had already been officialized and was under the scrutiny of the Central Committee. Despite the structural similarities, Photovacation had a different goal — to allow people from the photographic guild to exchange ideas and show pictures to each other informally…
“…and what did we do? We invited all the photographers. We invited them to the sea.”
Photovacation was born out of Bulgarian photographers’ need for creative freedom. The first edition of the forum, however, never took place. The event planned for September 1982 was canceled a week before the set date because of the military exercise “Shield.”
Nevertheless, on 3 September 1983, at Oasis campsite, the first Photovacation kicked off — the free field for expression of Bulgarian photographers.
Organization
The event lasted eight days. The organizers negotiated special accommodation prices for participants — mainly members of the “Club of Photographic Workers,” since the event was promoted only within the guild.
An official creative program was prepared. A large marquee (“balloon”) was erected, where all exhibitions from the official program — Bulgarian and foreign, not contradicting state ideology — were shown. Every day there was a new exhibition, because the audience changed.
Outside the balloon, between the bungalows, on clotheslines with pegs, everyone had the opportunity to show whatever they wanted. That was the place for discussions.
It was then that the first Photovacation contest was held. Each participant was given one slide film and three mounts. In those three mounts each person submitted three selected frames. On the last evening, on a large meadow, all the slides were projected onto a screen (a stretched sheet). Above the screen there were red and green bulbs. For each picture the jury pressed the corresponding color to decide whether it would go forward or not. Each jury decision, of course, was accompanied by colorful comments, shouts, applause or boos from the audience. In this way the winning shots were chosen. The prizes, quite attractive for the time, were provided by companies invited to participate at Photovacation as exhibitors.
A “fair” was also organized even then. Representatives of different companies partitioned part of their bungalow where they demonstrated their products (the bungalows were about 15 sq m). Some of those products were subsequently given as prizes.
They introduced another “tease” — they arranged nude photography models — unheard of at the time. Anyone can sign up and go at a scheduled time to photograph a particular moment with a model.
Because they had heard “that’s how it’s done,” the Photovacation logo was also created then. One of the organizers was acquainted with the famous Bulgarian artist Stefan Kunchev. “…he grabbed him one day and said — let’s make something.” Thus the Photovacation logo was born. A sea horse made of film strip.
The event was organized by a team of four people, who met every week and discussed what could happen. Photovacation immediately attracted attention.
“It’s quite relative. Nowadays you have to beg a TV station and convince them how interesting what you’re doing is, and even pay them to come to your event. Back then it was the opposite. The moment they heard we were doing something like this they said ‘We want to film it!’” (Igor Chipev)
Information about Photovacation was spread only within the photographic guild. It numbered about 400 people at that period. By the third year of Photovacation’s existence there was no one in the guild who had not attended.
Even in the first year a film about the event was made, directed by Plamen Maslarov.
After the first Photovacation that did not take place, relations with foreign photographers were a bit complicated. They had been invited to participate in the first edition and had accepted. At the last moment everything fell apart and telegrams were sent telling them not to come because there would be nothing for them to do.В последния момент всичко пропада и им изпращат телеграми да не идват, защото няма какво да правят ако дойдат. It took three years for the first foreigners to join the event.
In the following years more and more people from abroad came.
Since the very first year, T-shirts bearing the event’s logo have been made for all participants. Again, this was done “because we had seen that this is how such things are done.”
The last of the “old” Photovacations was held in 1989.
“In those years Photovacation was hugely successful because it was a breath of freedom by the sea — creative meetings, exhibitions on clotheslines, encounters with photographers from other parts of Bulgaria…”
The New Photovacations
Instead of being forgotten, nostalgia for Photovacation grew over the years. Bulgarian photographic life missed those few “breaths of freedom.”
In 1995 Photovacation was revived by Mr. Yuriy Treyman, president of Fomus Ltd., official distributor of Kodak in Bulgaria.
What remained was the name Photovacation, the format, and the logo with the horse. These were patented in 1995 by Yuriy Treyman and Zvezda Spassova, who for many years was the creative engine of the new Photovacations (may she rest in peace).
Yuriy Treyman managed to convince Kodak that the event had an excellent reputation and that the Kodak name would thereby be associated with something very positive. Thus, for the first of the new Photovacations, Kodak became the main sponsor. The vacations were reborn – this time in the International Youth Centre (MMC) in Primorsko.
Photovacation is reborn. This time in Primorsko.
The team this time consists of three people. Zvezda Spassova and a graphic designer handled the entire visual identity of Photovacation. This was a period in which the event stood out with many original ideas generated by Zvezda.
Medals with the Photovacation logo, promotional T‑shirts, caps, trousers… unprecedentedly shaped programs and much more were produced. During Photovacation, a wide variety of events take place – many of them extending well beyond photography itself.
Sports tournaments are held, fantastic parties—with some of Bulgaria’s most popular performers—light up the nights, and a range of entertainment is organized for both young and old.
Photovacation managed to become a place for a lot of photography but also for unforgettable experiences.
The Contest This is what unites everyone. The larger part of the event budget went to forming the prize fund. In the following years the prize fund was provided by sponsoring companies such as Fomus Ltd., Canon Bulgaria and many others. At first the contest was slide‑based, but later it became print‑based because the sponsors’ interests were tied mainly to photographs. It remained so for many years until 2008, when alongside the main contest the slide competition was revived under the name “Master Contest.”