Ghost village

Traveling around Bulgaria to photograph the our ancient “Kukeri” masked traditions, I drove to a remote village of Momina Tzarkva at Strandzha – Sakar region. I was to join the small local Kukeri band at the annual ritual to chase away the evil spirits of the old year and bless the village for the new one. Arriving I found the place in ruins with just handfull of residents. The spooky setting was completed by the ghost like costumes of the local masked band, so I came up with one simple idea. As I walked with the band around the village I asked its members to step to side of the street where there was abundance of abandoned ruins for a quick snapshot. That day I took a chance to tell the story of Momina Tzarkva which represents the faith of the whole region of Strandzha – Sakar and thousands of other villages across Bulgaria. The depopulation process was started in 1950s by the communist government, and is still going on to this date, taking away more villages every year. In Momina Tzarkva my guideswere the local masked Kukeri, which I associated with ghosts dwelling around the abondened homes. And those gosts told the sad story of what was once their home.