Bio and Info - Dimitri Stefanov

My name is Dimitri Stefanov and I am a documentary photographer and visual storyteller!

BIOGRAPHY

Dimitri Stefanov is a documentary photographer, curator and editor. He is born in 1987 in Pleven, Bulgaria. At the age of 13, he emigrates with his family to Madrid, Spain. He has lived there for more than 15 years. In 2009, he graduates from Centro Internacional de Fotografia y Cine, Madrid with Master Degree Documentary Photography and Photojournalism, where he also receives an award for the "Talent of the Year" and holds his first solo exhibition "Not About Football".

In 2009, Dimitri is awarded a scholarship "Fotoperiodismo Albarracin", organized by the photographer Gervasio Sánchez in collaboration with the photojournalist Sandra Balsells and his work has appeared in many leading international and local magazines. A year later, he has another solo exhibition "No Country" in the International Meetings of Photography, Bulgaria. During the years, he has been working on long-term projects, focusing on social issues and problems, affecting the middle class and other aspects of life in Bulgaria. In regards, he has lived with prisoners and drug addicts, photographing their life. Even though he lives in Madrid, the photographer returns home to Bulgaria periodically in the 2010s to work on different series.

Therefore, in 2011, he is nominated and voted "One of the 12 Greatest Talents of the Year" by the Joop Swart Masterclass, World Press Photo. In 2012, he is also selected as a finalist in the Picture of the Year International, Emerging Vision Incentive, USA and "Top 10 Photographers" by Pikto Award, Canada. The same year, he is also shortlisted in the Leica Oscar Barnack Newcomer Award. His work has also been exhibited in group exhibitions all around the world.

As an emerging documentary photographer, he has worked and been mentored by some of the most renowned photographers in the world and one of the most valuable lessons he has received was to work with respect and never stop photographing. To share knowledge and to build bridges. In 2015, he returns to Bulgaria to make one of his biggest dream come true. In 2020, Dimitri Stefanov establishes the photography school BECA in Sofia, Bulgaria that offers variety of quality educational opportunities for the new generations of visual storytellers.

In 2020, he also presents a solo exhibition called "VIK", Gallery Synthesis in collaboration with FujifIlm GFX100 as a part of a commission project carried out in Iceland in 2019. Two years later, he has another solo exhibition "Prima" that opens in April 2023 in the building of the Sofia Opera and Ballet, Bulgaria and has more than 1000 visitors. In 2023, he also presents his long-awaited photo book "Collapse" that encompass a decade-long sequence of various reports, combining photographs as a means of introspection and remembrance. The photo book presentation is accompanied by a solo exhibition of the same name in the BECA Center of Visual Storytelling, Bulgaria.