Now that autumn is putting a chill on the scorching summer we can well ask ourselves: what happens at the precise moment of change? It is a question that comes to mind when one looks at the works by photographer Zhana Yordanova. SOHO – the work space where culture meets urban colour - is the place where her works are on display until 25 October.

Memoria del silencio (Memory of silence) is Zhana’s first photo exhibition. For close to ten years she has been living in Spain. The change in her life set in in 2007 when she was a third year law student. She was only 20 when she moved to the Canary Islands, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, where she registered for web design training at a job centre, followed by graphic design and finally – photography.

“I underwent an evolution and started devoting more time to the things I love. One becomes creative when one is appreciated,” she says. Gradually she was able to make a living out of photography – news coverage, weddings, different events. And she adopted a different approach:

“The current photographic style I employ is my own, personal style. I am interested in spontaneous photography, the kind of photography that is a reflection of the solitude of private life. For these photographs natural light is used. I would very much like to broach social photography. I am hoping this exhibition will serve as a testimony to a hush in our surroundings and in us, humans as part of it. My aim was to capture this moment of inner silence, when there are no thoughts, just a spontaneous emotion in which man and nature are at one.”

When she is not taking pictures, Zhana works at a social events centre:

“It is an independent location used by different groups and NGOs to hold their meetings. We also organize concerts, training courses, theatre, we have a book store.”

Love of nature is something that is there to be seen in each one of Zhana Yordanova’s photographs.

“These are the moments I love to capture most on film – out in the mountain, the open spaces. Frankly speaking, it is hard to imagine I will ever do urban photography, though the time for that may come at some point in the future.”

English version: Milena Daynova