Photographer Pepa Hristova was born in 1977 in Bulgaria. Her photographic work is driven by her fascination with the fractured beauty of the east and her interest in social phenomena and archaic traditions, leading to an examination of the unknown, changing side of Europe. She focuses on the alienation of Muslims in orthodox Bulgaria, documents a centuries-old custom in North Albania with ‘Sworn Virgins’ or looks behind the closed doors of Bulgarian children’s homes. She approaches her subjects with intuition and emotion and experiments with different genres and the ambiguity of photographic imagery. Snapshots combine with staged images and precise observations of situations, opening up an associative space, in which there is still scope for individual interpretations and points of contact.
- 1977 born in Sevlievo, Bulgaria
- 1996-1998 German Studies, University Sofia
- since 1997 living in Germany
- 1998-1999 Studies in history of art, University Kiel
- 1999-2006 Study of Communications Design and Photography at the College of Applied Sciences, Hamburg
- 2006-2015 member of OSTKREUZ Photographers Agency, Berlin
- 2012 teaching assignment for photography at the University of Applied Sciences Hamburg
- 2013 teaching assignment for photography at the University of Applied Sciences Hamburg
Awards and Grants
- 2011-2012 VG Bild Kunst Grant for Photography 2012
- 2010 Border Crossers Fellowship Robert Bosch Foundation
- 2009 Otto-Steinert-Award for subjective photography
- 2009 Lead Awards for reportage
- 2008 C/O Berlin Talents Award
- 2008 Gabriel-Grüner Stipend for Photography
- 2008 Academy of Arts Berlin Stipend Section Film and Media Art
- 2007-2008 VG Bild Kunst Grant for Photography 2008
- 2007 World Press Photo Masterclass Nomination
- 2006 What ist important? a photographic research into European Values Grant,
Alfred Toepfer Foundation and House of Photography, Deichtorhallen, Hamburg
Selected Exhibitions
- 2015 The Bartered Bride Triennial of Photography/Apartimentum Hamburg
- 2015 Blue light is scattered/Sworn Virgins Apartimentum Hamburg
- 2014 Sworn Virgins BOZAR – Centre for fine Arts, Brüssel/Solo exhibition
- 2014 Power&Play De Markten, Brüssel
- 2013 Stranger World Stadtmuseum München, FotoDoks
- 2013 Sworn Virgins Kunstmuseum Kloster Unser Lieben Frauen Magdeburg/Solo exhibition
- 2013 On Borders/Labyrinth aus Glas Deutsches Hygiene Museum, Dresden
- 2012 On Borders/Labyrinth aus Glas Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin
- 2012 State of the Art Photography/Sworn Virgins NRW- Forum Düsseldorf
- 2011 The City/Electronic Town Tokyo 2008 Lindenau Museum, Altenburg
- 2010 The City/Electronic Town Tokyo 2008 Kunstfoyer Versicherungskammer Bayern, München
- 2010 The City/Electronic Town Tokyo 2008 C/O Berlin
- 2010 Everyday Ideologies/Strangers in Their Own Country Art Museum Magdeburg
- 2009 Sworn Virgins International Photography Festival F/Stop Leipzig
- 2009 Strangers in Their Own Country Fotografevi Gallery, Istanbul
- 2009 Young Academy 2008/Sworn Virgins Akademie of Arts Pariser Platz, Berlin
- 2008 Strangers in Their Own Country Art.Space.Aleph, Photo Festival Athen:08/Solo exhibition
- 2008 Strangers in Their Own Country C/O Berlin/Solo exhibition
- 2008 Stories from Bulgaria KGaleria/Kamera Photo, Lisbon/Solo exhibition
- 2008 Strangers in Their Own Country Zephyr/Raum of Photography/ Reiss–Engelhorh- Museum, Mannheim/Solo exhibition
- 2007 What is important/Strangers in Their Own Country House of Photography/ Deichtorhallen, Hamburg
- 2005 In the East/Rodina Art Society Tiergarten, Berlin
- 2005 In the East/Rodina Art Society, Heidelberg
- 2004 In the East/Rodina Galleria Academia, Vilnius, Lithuania
Books, Catalogues
- Sworn Virgins, Publisher: Kehrer 2013
- On Borders, Publisher: Hatje Cantz 2012
- State of the Art Photography, Publisher: Feymedia 2012
- The Other Side, Publisher: Kehrer 2012
- Die Stadt Vom Werden und Vergehen, Hatje Cantz Verlag 2010
- 24 Stunden Berlin, Publisher: Steidl 2009
- Hansel-Mieth-Award/ Gabriel-Grüner-Stipend, Schworer Verlag 2009
- Aktuelle Szene Bulgarien, Ludwig Museum Koblenz/ Kettler Verlag 2008
- Strangers in Their Own Country, Talents 11 C/O Berlin/ Deutscher Kunstverlag 2008
- What is important? a Photographic Research into European Values, Nicolai Verlag 2007