About her

Aneta Ivanova is a 23 year old Bulgarian photographer who, after focusing her work on a lot of conceptional work and portraits, began experimenting with different techniques to give a new meaning to her photographs. She began with long exposures, then double and multiple exposures combining a number of portraits, and then she focused on portraits with landscape and nature elements. She states that she tries to keep her work as personal as possible, shooting self-portraits or portraits of her sisters mostly, and she prefers the method of double exposure because it allows her to combine two completely different scenes in one, allowing the pieces to become more expressive. Her style is based on a compilation of pictures from her trips, and photos where she acted as the model. She really knows what she wants to transmit, and adapts it. She experiments with her digital camera, and manually adjusts the effects to get the desired result. Ivanova’s style is characterized by minimalism, soft lighting, and a muted color palette, giving her images an ethereal and otherworldly feel. She often uses surreal elements like unusual textures or forms, creating a sense of ambiguity and mystery.

Analysis of one of her images

How she links to identity

Aneta Ivanova is a photographer and visual artist whose work often explores themes of identity, transformation, and emotional depth. Her photography is known for its conceptual approach and symbolic use of elements like lighting, makeup, and surreal compositions, making it particularly well-suited to the theme of disguise. Aneta Ivanova blends photos of people into photos of scenery, whether it be trees, birds or the sea. Many of her photographs are expressed in black and white to enhance the shapes; however she does also portray some of her work in colour, creating bright, lively images. I think her work links to disguise in identity as she combines humankind with nature which are two completely different yet similar things. Nature is seen for how it is (it’s natural) and cannot hide behind a mask unlike humans who constantly hide behind a metaphorical or physical mask. Whether that be putting on a happy face or wearing makeup, each are used in a way to hide the vulnerable true part of ourselves. By combining the two images, I think it highlights to the viewer that it’s okay to be yourself and that you don’t have to hide who you truly are as nature is still beautiful despite it being fully exposed to us with no mask to cover itself behind. Ivanova’s work often delves into the psychological aspects of identity, exploring the emotional facades that people put on in different situations. Disguise, in this sense, can be metaphorical: her subjects might appear one way on the surface, but their internal, emotional state may tell a different story. Through her photography, Ivanova might challenge the viewer to question the difference between how a person presents themselves and who they truly are.

Quotes:

• Ivanova often explores the malleability of identity, saying things that convey how people are constantly changing or performing different versions of themselves. A general idea she might express is how “Identity is not fixed—it is fluid and often shaped by external and internal forces.” This quote suggests to me that people often don’t know who they truly are and mould themselves to be like the people they’re around at the time. Implying people disguise their true selves in order to not be judged by those around them.

• “A photograph should evoke a feeling, a moment of vulnerability, or an introspective thought from both the subject and the viewer.” I think she successfully does this in her photographs as she addresses the issue of identity and how people often pretend to be something they’re not. 

• “Photography is a way to create new realities, where the ordinary transforms into something extraordinary. Through this, we can examine the deeper truths of who we are.”