Panels - a return through the prism of fashion

I grew up in the last decade of communism in Eastern Europe. My life had to be predetermined because at the time the political system did not accept freedom of expression, creativity, and travel abroad was simply not allowed. Or rather, they were only allowed to the few privileged. Most people lived, studied, and did what was assigned to them by party order, party logic, and morality. There was no Christmas, bananas were eaten once a year, Coca-Cola was only liaison, and all the children had the same toys, clothes, and Balkans.

The first 9 years of my life, we spent a room, kitchen and bathroom in a panel block at Mladost 1. My mother and father worked at MEI, we had Lada (I dreamed of Zaporozhets), I carried a door key, and my father threw me through the school fence on his way to work. I was responsible for the chavdar, smiling on duty at the pictures in the literary - images of bald uncles and petals. And when Brezhnev died, it was expected of us, the 7-year-old children, the "chavdars", to be sad and to mourn him. The Banner of Peace assembly was one of the most incredible experiences for me. It was also my first contact with cultures and races from all over the world that I later visited and got to know during my travels around the world.

photographer: Tina Boyadzhieva

Like any child, regardless of the environment, I grew up with fantasies of worlds and fairy tales read to me by my grandparents. I reread Pippi Longstocking, Crocodile Gene, Maine Reed, and Ali Baba. I could look at my grandmother's Burda colors and magazines endlessly. I painted with pastels on the walls of the balcony, and as I climbed the climbing frames, careful not to smash my head in the cement, I imagined driving a boat and traveling the world with it. The essence of these earliest childhood years is perhaps what made me independent, responsible, resilient and curious.

photographer: Tina Boyadzhieva

When, a few years later, the Wall fell and I won a scholarship to study in America, my life took an unexpected direction.

The style was inspired by the fashion of the 70's, 80's and 90's, modeled on "Burda". The photos of "Bells" use the style of Lyudmila Zhivkova, not because of her nostalgia for the past, but because of her role as an independent woman who supported art, foreign cultures and children's creativity in an environment that denied all this. My life and my professional development are proof that there are no impossible things. Everyone is obliged to pursue their dreams and not forget the child inside.

photographer: Tina Boyadzhieva