Vassilev uses the faces of his fellow countrymen and women as his subject. But that is not quite the right term. These are people, not subjects. These are Vassilev’s beloved compatriots. There is no distance, no barrier between these people, and Vassilev the portraitist. Each recognizes the other clearly and wholeheartedly and the result is not so much a photograph as a captured embrace of mutual love, common history and shared destiny.

Vassilev began photographing his fellow Bulgarians in 1972, at a time when the country was still under communist rule. After government officials raided his darkroom, accusing Vassilev of presenting a pessimistic and gloomy side of Bulgaria, he hid his negatives in a relative’s barn. As Vassilev himself stated:

I really want to preserve all we have in Bulgaria, especially the army of the old generation. Those people have something that the young generation does not have. A spirit --- I have seen it in their eyes, in their hands, and on their faces. The grand and endless expressions on their faces are so natural, so real: sometimes I wish my photography could have smell and sound. At least [these photographs are] something that will remain for future generations. Photography is a big art and no one, no regime, no government, no party can stop the creation of it.

The human faces in Vassilev’s work look like they are from another century entirely. These are images of hugely authentic and emblematic human beings, imbued with implacable constancy and will and courage and resignation. These are images of faces upon which is written the entire convoluted history of Bulgaria. Not portraits of human tragedy but rather, depictions of a kind of harsh and tender tragic-comedy. These are images of the human condition, no more, no less, accomplished with a fervent compassion and love. These portraits are so real as to transcend the limitations of two dimensions, of film and print, of black and white.

Vassilev holds a Diploma from the Bulgarian Ministry of Education’s Julius Fuchik Technical School for Polygraphy & Photography, and was awarded a Diploma of Art Photography from the Ministry of Culture and the Bulgarian Photography Society in 1990.

Jacko Ivanov Vassilev’s photographs have been exhibited internationally and are included in the permanent public art collections of the International Center for Photography in New York City, and the European Center of Photography in Paris. Other prestigious museum, private and corporate collections which hold his work include: The Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center in Austin, Texas; The Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Texas; The Minneapolis Institute of Arts in Minneapolis, Minnesota; The Huntsville Museum of Art in Huntsville, Alabama; The Bayly Art Museum in Charlottesville, Virginia, and many others.

Vassilev has had numerous solo and group exhibitions throughout the world including those in the countries of Yugoslavia, England, Germany, Brazil, Czechoslovakia, Venezuela, Italy, Bulgaria, Poland, Belgium, Hungary, Australia, Estonia, France, Rumania, Canada, Holland and the United States.

Vassilev’s work has been written about extensively in art and photography publications worldwide, including a book of his photographs entitled Bulgarians which was published in 1994 by Contrejour Publishers in Paris.

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