Chance Encounters in The Valley of Lights

The European Union, or the Council of Europe as it was known when it was founded in 1949, brought in tremendous change to society permeating its very core. The benefits were of economic, cultural and security nature but some also argued that it erased their national identity. One of the biggest improvements, though, was that one could travel, live and study in a place different from one’s birth country unhindered — it has never been this easy to meet, fall in love with and settle in with people

Exemplary Home is a documentary work exploring the north-western part of rural Bulgaria. It aims to illustrate the effects of rapid urbanisation, progressive globalisation and corruption on the most vulnerable parts of Bulgarian society.

Floriana Avellino captures the joy of going on a holiday and its little, often unnoticed moments in her project The Wait. The body of work focuses in particular on the moments before departure, which are often ignored as the main part of the “real” holiday tends to be what interests most.