Blagovesta Semkova is a Bulgarian documentary photographer. She graduated from an art academy with a painting. She works as an art teacher in a school in a small town, a former mountaineer and a mother of four. Her work comes directly from her personal life and the environment in which she lives and works.

She started photography three years ago, after undergoing training at BECA – Before Creating Academy in Sofia, focused on documentary photography. Since then, she has been working on several long-term projects.

Her most personal project, “Son”, is about acceptance, love and the courage to make difference visible. The project follows the relationship between a mother and son on the autism spectrum and the path to a life without fear and shame, outside the notions of a “normal” family. It is a project about choosing to stand openly with your child, yourself and a different world.

Her other long-term projects address topics such as tradition, national identity, marginalized communities, belonging, social isolation and economic and institutional collapse.

During the residency, she continues to develop the project "Son", seeking a clearer language for the themes of family, care, time, and the right to be visible.

The residency is part of the project Reframing Family: Feminist Perspectives Through the Lens, organised by the Goethe-Institut in Budapest, Sofia and Chennai, India.