Vienna-based Bulgarian photographer Rossi Nedyalkova (Photo from Rossi Nedyalkova/BTA)
VIENNA, Austria – Vienna-based Bulgarian photographer Rossi Nedyalkova was distinguished in a competition of the Vienna Chamber of Professional Photographers, placing second in two categories: for documentary photography and for natural portrait.
Taking pictures of people is what she really loves, she said in a BTA interview.
“Capturing their emotions, to be precise,” she added.
Some 1,600 photos are traditionally entered in the WKO competition. They compete in eight categories: wedding photography, architecture, documentary photography, advertising photography; natural portrait; creative portrait; nature and wildlife; landscape.
Nedyalkova submitted photos for six of these. She was the only Bulgarian photographer in this year’s WKO competition.
She told BTA that she took the winning photo in the event photography category during an evening walk in Nice.
“There was an old lady that really struck me. I observed her for a while before I had the courage to pick up the camera and take a picture. I really loved one of the snapshots and chose to submit it for the competition.”
The other winning photo features the mother of a friend of hers, and her granddaughter.
The photographer told BTA she was fascinated by the woman who had in her something childish and aristocratic at the same time.
“She was like a ballerina queen. You could just sit and observe her.”
Asked whether she prefers Sofia or Vienna for her photography, she said it is people, emotions and the situation that matters.
“Of course, the location is also important but I can’t choose between Sofia and Vienna. Both have great locations and great people as well.”
She said what she misses in Vienna is the freedom to take a snapshot every time something or somebody inspires her.
“They have very strict rules here about taking pictures of people and having to ask their permission. Also, you cannot shoot professionally everywhere. You also need permission to take photos close to some buildings or inside them.”
Rossi Nedyalkova has been in Vienna for eight years now.
She moved here with her family when she was offered a job but in those days she was only a photography enthusiast.
After studying hard and practicing a lot, she made photography a full-time job in 2018.
She has since participated in a number of exhibitions, including two one-person shows in Sofia and Plovdiv.
Photography aside, she describes herself as a 48-year-old proud mother of three, loving wife and happy grandmother of a one-year-old. (BTA)
