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It's taken a little too long for my likings, but I'm finally back to processing images from my last photo-session with Sofia. I'm posting the color versions of these images. Sometime soon I will post the warmtone bronze quadtone renditions of these.
Sofia Kenin of the United States talks to the media after winning her quarter-final match at the 2019 Western & Southern Open WTA Premier Tennis 5 Tournament
Continuing with the series of images and the theme of icons inspired by the mixture of Byzantine Orthodox Christianity and Constantinople...
I love the headdress that Sofia wore. The details are visually pleasing. Add a bit of a halo and these images reflect nearly exactly what I had in my Mind's Eye.
Strobist info: A two light setup. Alien Bees ABR800 ringlight at near lowest power mounted with lens pointing through the center, Alien Bees B1600 at 1/4 power pointed from behind at the backdrop.
Sofia Kenin of the United States in action during her third-round match at the 2019 Internazionali BNL d'Italia WTA Premier 5 tennis tournament
Sofia Kenin of the United States in action during her quarter-final match at the 2019 Western & Southern Open WTA Premier Tennis 5 Tournament
Sofia Kenin of the United States in action at the 2018 Miami Open WTA Premier Mandatory tennis tournament
Continuing with the series of images and the theme of icons inspired by the mixture of Byzantine Orthodox Christianity and Constantinople...
In the crossover of cultural influences between East and West there was a sharing of ideas, religions, spiritualities, and forms of Reality. I am reminded of some of the Sufis who meditated in the Indian manner. I am reminded of the role of the Maiden in Western cultures. I am reminded of all the is sacred about Woman from the time of Sarah's Circle.
I love the headdress that Sofia wore. The details are visually pleasing. Add a bit of a halo and these images reflect nearly exactly what I had in my Mind's Eye.
Strobist info: A two light setup. Alien Bees ABR800 ringlight at near lowest power mounted with lens pointing through the center, Alien Bees B1600 at 1/4 power pointed from behind at the backdrop.
Sofia Kenin of the United States in action during the first round of the 2019 Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open Premier 5 tennis tournament
Sofia Kenin of the United States in action during her first-round match at the 2019 Western & Southern Open WTA Premier Tennis 5 Tournament
I saw plenty of stray dogs incl. litters of puppies here and there in Sofia.
- I arrived from Pleven and spent 3 full, interesting days here. It's a city of architectural contrasts with huge, impressive Communist-era and fin-de-siecle structures handy to the oldest churches that I'd seen to that point in my travels, incl. one which could be the oldest intact church anywhere. The locals were friendly and easy-going, it was a cultured and cultural city, and it was affordable. I have fond memories of the abundance of delicious, toasted sub sandwiches (like the ones Quizno's used to make) sold in sandwich shops.
- I sat and enjoyed a free sound and light show at a large fountain at Atanas Burov square early one evening downtown where the water sprayed and jetted and the lights flashed and glowed off and on in sync to the music of Genesis (!).
- At 6 p.m., Saturday, June 3, I attended an opera performance at the lovely, neoclassical 'National Opera and Ballet [Theatre] of Bulgaria' (1947-'53). I don't recall it, but I have a ticket (lol). Apparently I saw Verdi's 'Il Trovatore', 'The Troubadour' (although I'm not so keen on opera). The design of the bldg. was based on that of the Paris Opera.
- I also stopped to tour the lobby (at least) in the lovely Ivan Vazov National Theatre, "one of Sofia's most elaborate bldg.s" (1907, designed by Viennese architects, reconstructed in 1945 after damage in WWII and from 1971-75, neo-classical and eclectic ["above the 6 white marble columns there's a scene in the pediment of Apollo and the Muses"]), where once again I experienced some impressive, almost instinctive Bulgarian generosity. There were a number of framed posters hanging up on the walls which had promoted various local productions in recent years, all colourful and executed in a similar style, and the one that caught my eye was for Alexander Morfov's Bulgarian-language production of 'The Tempest'. (Someone must've told me that that's what it was when I asked.) In blue and white, it consists in a pen and ink drawing of a close-up of a man's face, with just his eyes (which look off to the right, his left), his nose, mouth, beard and moustache, and the digit of his finger is seen pulling down the lower eyelid of his left eye to magically reveal a distant ship on a choppy, tempestuous sea, again on his eyelid just beneath his eye. This is the face of Prospero, watching the boat approach his island in the storm. Ingenious. (More impressive Bulgarian modern art.) I asked @, found an administrator in his office, and asked him if there was a spare copy at the theatre that I could buy. He went to the trouble of finding one for me (as it wasn't the current production www.jstor.org/stable/44657343 www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzGmToqySUU ) and just gave it to me, for free! And he didn't make a big deal about it, or say "You're welcome!" It was almost as if I had a right to it. ("Here you go. Ok? ... Sure. ... No, it won't cost you anything, but I've got work to do.") I had to fold it in 4 to send it home. I value it and I've been meaning to get it framed all these years. I resolve to this year as I type this.
- I took a photo of beer-drinking and supping patrons at tables set up in the park below and surrounding 'the Monument to the Soviet Army' (1954), which "portrays a soldier from the Soviet Army as a freedom fighter [marching in front, holding his rifle up high in his right hand, leading] a Bulgarian woman holding her baby, and a Bulgarian man [8 m.s high on a plinth]. ... The monument was erected to commemorate "the 10th anniversary of the liberation by the Soviet Army, which is the general Russian interpretation of the complex Military history of Bulgaria during World War II." (Wikipedia). Bronze high reliefs @ the base (which I don't recall) laud the Soviet Army. One relief of soldiers on the move and running with guns "was painted overnight [on June 17, 2011] by 'Destructive Creation', a group of anonymous artists who "dressed" the Soviet Army soldiers as the American popular culture characters Superman, Joker, Robin, Captain America, Ronald McDonald, Santa Claus, Wolverine, The Mask, and Wonder Woman. A caption was painted beneath which translates as "In pace with the times"." The paint was removed 3 days later. The collective came to be referred to as 'the Banksy of Bulgaria' and the event led to pro and anti-Russian discussions in Bulgarian society. These sculptures in the friezes surrounding the plinth were painted again the following year in Guy Fawkes' masks (with photos distributed as "an invitation to anti-ACTA protests held on Feb. 11, 2012"); it was photographed again with 'Pussy Riot' masks in Aug. 2012 in solidarity with 'Pussy Riot' in Russia; on Feb. 1, 2013, Bulgaria's National Day to Commemorate the Victims of Communism', 3 of the figures were painted in the colours of the Bulgarian national flag, red, white and green; on Aug. 21, 2013, unknown artists painted the frieze in pink to commemorate the 45th anniversary of the 1968 Prague spring with an inscription in Bulgarian and in Czech reading 'Bulgaria apologizes'; On Feb. 23, 2014, the central figure and the flag above him were painted in yellow and blue in support of the Maidan uprising in Kyiv; on April 12, 2014, one of the statues was painted in the colours of the Polish flag, and the statue next to it was painted with in Ukrainian colours. An inscription beneath referred to the Katyn massacre; the monument was once again painted in yellow and blue following the attack on Ukraine by Russian forces on Feb. 24, 2022. (Wikipedia) It's a controversial monument today. Many call for its removal or demolition, while others (who wikipedia refers to as 'Russophiles') want to preserve it.
- I witnessed a funerary procession along one of the city's famous, ceramic 'yellow brick roads' at the SE corner of the Bulgarian Parliament, in which members of the Presidential Guard marched in their white and red outfits and a tank pulled a wagon with a coffin on top. The Guards in the lead carried large wreaths, and the one at the very front carried a large framed portrait of a balding man wearing sunglasses. (I think I asked who he was but I forget, and the net's no help. I'll scan a photo.)
- Sofia and Plovdiv were big on local antique and open-air book markets, with some great stuff on offer. There's a famous flea market in a plaza or park by the Alexander Nevsky cathedral. I bought some cool Soviet or communist-era lenticular or 3-D postcards there or in Plovdiv.
- I toured a large exhibition of Orthodox Christian icons and paintings from all over the country and which spans the ages, 'The National Gallery's Collection of Orthodox Church Art' (I bought a postcard of a work I saw there, the 'Trial of Christ before Pilate', (1829)), in the crypt of the huge Alexander Nevsky cathedral. The cathedral's administration claims that the museum contains the largest collection of Orthodox icons in Europe. (Here's a concert of Bulgarian folk singers held in that crypt. www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6S9c1BReoY )
- The best things that I saw in Sofia were churches, very impressive Orthodox and early Christian churches which span the length of the Christian era (and which I write about in the next description). The wonderful 'National museum of History', with its world-famous collection of Thracian gold, was closed for renovations. It was one of my biggest misses in Bulgaria.
- I think I toured the Banya Bashi Ottoman mosque (1576, designed by the famous Hadzhi Mimar Sinan), Sofia's only working mosque, but I don't recall it.
- Other misses in town include 'the National Gallery for Foreign Art' (with works by Renoir, Matisse, Goya and Van Dyck), and the Ethnographic museum in a former Turkish konak (1873) which became the governor's residence briefly after 1878 and was reconstructed in the 1880s as 'the Royal Palace'.
- Sofia is one of the most ancient and historic cities that I toured in Europe that trip. It sits atop ancient Roman Serdica, one of the largest cities in the Roman empire in the 4th cent. A.D. Ancient ruins and complexes have since been excavated, stabilized, and made presentable for walking tours in sunken courts @ town. Much in the way of advanced and ambitious plumbing and geothermal heating systems is now on display. The process of rediscovery is continuous. "In July, 2006, workers digging the foundations of a new office bldg. discovered the ruins of a new amphitheatre which is only 10 m.s smaller than the famous one in Rome." (Bradt)
- Serdica was the capital of ancient Dacia Mediterranea during the Roman and Byzantine Empires. (To be continued with a summary of the history of this ancient city.)
Sofia Kenin of the United States in action during the second round of the 2020 Brisbane International WTA Premier tennis tournament
Sofia Kenin of the United States in action during the first round of the 2019 Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open Premier 5 tennis tournament
Sofia Kenin of the United States during her third-round match at the 2019 Western & Southern Open WTA Premier Tennis 5 Tournament
Sofia Kenin of the United States in action during the first round of the 2019 Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open Premier 5 tennis tournament
JAMIEshow Dolls Sofia und Ann Collection by Anna Lipka
Sofia Pinchuk - Erasmus + student from Ukraine at Silesian University of Technology, Gliwice, Poland
Sofia Pinchuk had been studying in Poland and had finished the Erasmus course when war broke out and she found she was not able to get back home. She immediately received support from the Erasmus+ UKR office and continued her studies for 1 more year on full scholarship and funds to live and travel.
In response to the current situation in Ukraine, many European universities have offered their support to Ukrainian students by enrolling them in their courses, reducing or waiving tuition fees, and providing scholarships.
For more information:
EN: euneighbourseast.eu/news/stories/despite-the-war-how-a-st...
UKR:
euneighbourseast.eu/uk/news/stories/popry-vijnu-yak-stude...