Artist of the day, October 2, 2020: Jacko Vassilev, a Bulgarian art and press photographer (#1109)

 Jacko Vassilev (1951) is an internationally acclaimed Bulgarian art and press photographer, actively working in the field since 1983.

Jacko Vassilev was born to freespirited parents in communist Bulgaria. As a boy, he dreamed of freedom, the simple right to plan out one's own life and destiny. Taught by his parents to "ask questions" and to "read between the lines," he courted trouble as a young student, asking his teacher after a lesson on patriotism: "People are arrested, killed by their own if they want to flee and find a better life. Why are they killing them if it is such a paradise here?" For an answer, he was forced to kneel and keep his hands in the air for at least five hours; if he let his arms drop, he would be beaten with a stick and a belt.

At twenty-eight, he put his dreams of freedom to the test, attempting to escape past the barbed wire and border patrols. He was caught, severely beaten (he sustained a fractured neck), and tossed into a slave-labor camp for one year. He befriended many of the older political prisoners, and instead of building up hate, he built up the strength to survive. While the camp was harsh, he was not subjected to the drugging and injections of the mental "institutes" where many other political prisoners languished. Though his body suffered, his mind was clear. "It was the university of my life," he states over three decades later. "I've learned from the bad people how to be strong." It is this same willingness to confront suffering and the "reality" of life that informs his work, even now.

His work is a reminder of an often-harsh reality, bringing us down to earth, and yet Jacko Vassilev is a self-described optimist. He considers it his life's work to uncover the humanity in each person that he photographs, no matter the circumstances of their lives. He believes joy is an integral part of that humanity. Witness the face of the small Bulgarian girl, swimming in her older brother's or father's shoes, as she helps a fellow creature, a dove, attain the freedom she herself may never have. She is too young to be hemmed in by her future; she experiences only the joy of the moment, of being the instrument of freedom for another. …

Jacko Vassilev is a storyteller for the ages. With his camera for a pen and 35mm black-and-white film for his ink, he conveys in the faces of his subjects the timeless story of the human struggle to belong in a world of poverty, totalitarianism, and indifference. There are stories in the rope-like knotted brow of a worried farmer, his brother looking wistfully away behind him, or the unaccountable joy of an impoverished urban child, in clothes far too large for her, releasing a dove into the sky. A homeless man in San Francisco, oblivious to the camera, glares with the intensity of a prophet from beneath his wild crown of biblical locks, seeing a past, or a future, that only he can see. You might be seeing a still from an old black and white movie, such is the scope of "character" that permeates all of this legendary photographer's work. His subjects are caught at their most human and vulnerable moments, with a breathtaking naturalness. There are no poses here; he has simply captured them at this moment in their story, and their faces tell the rest.

Jacko Vassilev's photographs are included in the permanent collections of the International Center for Photography in New York City, the European Center of Photography in Paris, the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, and many other museums throughout the world. Maureen Baumgartner explains the importance of his work.

© 2020. All content on this blog is protected by international copyright laws All images are copyrighted © by Jacko Vassilev or assignee. Apart from fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act, the use of any image from this site is prohibited unless prior written permission is obtained. All images used for illustrative purposes only

Mr. Jacko Vassilev

 "The Postman", Bulgaria. 1971

Communist Election, Bulgaria. 1971

Shepherd with the Flock in Golden “S”, Bulgaria. 1977

Gypsy Boy from Vil. Vetrn, Bulgaria. 1983

Grandpa Stoimen, Bulgaria. 1984

 The Newcomer. 1984

 Dancing Bear, Bulgaria. 1985

 Shepherd with a Flock from Village Zmeychar, Bulgaria. 1985

 The Water Girl from the Cooperative, Bulgaria. 1985

 Joy After Homemade Wine, Bulgaria. 1986

 Standing Brothers, Bulgaria. 1986

 Village of Probuda with Accordian, Bulgaria. 1986

 Tears for Her, Bulgaria. 1987

 A Man is a Man when a Man is on the Road, Bulgaria. 1988

 The Era of Communism, Bulgaria. 1988

 The Girl with the Dove, Bulgaria. 1988

 The Yoke, Bulgaria. 1988

Three Generations, Bulgaria. 1988

 Asen with Hoe, Village Yagoda, Bulgaria. 1989

 Cry of Freedom, Bulgaria. 1989

 The Dance of Zlatio Zlatev, Bulgaria. 1989

 Cooperative Women from Village Racovitca, Bulgaria. 1990

 Gypsy Homeless Children, Bulgaria. 1990

 The Family of Todora with their Portrait from 1944, Bulgaria. 1990

 The Kiss of Freedom, Bulgaria. 1990

 Eliesku with Duckling Pet, Village Luous, Romania. 1991

 The Flock. 1991

 Tconka, Mona and Lalcho in front of the Classroom, Bulgaria. 1992

 Gypsies from Village Yagoda with Dancing Bears, Bulgaria. 1993

 The Broken Mirror, Ivana and Peter Kamburovy, Bulgaria. 1993

 Old Man with a Pitch Fork Carrying Bundle Thorn for
Fencing his Shepherd House Yard, Delvine, Albania. 1994

 Vladu with a bag with grain which he will put on the horse neck, Romania. 1995

 The Monk Romel from Cherepischki Monastery, Bulgaria. 1986

 Hungry For Love III. 1997