Ivana Kalvacheva

Up Close and Personal

2019

When I was younger, the long bus rides at night were the most entertaining for me, as I loved looking at the illuminated windows of the passing residential buildings and wondered who lived there and what it was like inside each room. Back then, as my country was emerging from a totalitarian regime and the Soviet block, I wouldn’t have believed if someone told me that I would live in California for more than a decade (where my kids would be born), and later live in Paris. It wasn’t easy to move, as they are different cultures that speak different languages and have different values, but I feel blessed that although there have been challenges, I have met incredible people along the way. This box is a representation of my passion for photography, a reflection of my curiosity and love of life. It allows you to “peek through the windows” where you will meet some of the important people in my life: my family, and my friends in Bulgaria, California, and in Paris. Light the candle and take a look.