Pepa Hristova

Pepa Hristova (born 25 April 1977) is a Bulgarian photographer, based in Hamburg and Berlin.

She has a degree in communication design with a specialization in photography from the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences and became a member of the Ostkreuz photographic agency in Berlin in 2006.

Hristova was born in Sevlievo, Bulgaria.

Photography
Hristova's photographic work is driven by her fascination with the fractured beauty of the east and her interest in social phenomena and archaic traditions, leading to an examination of the unknown, changing side of Europe. She focuses on the alienation of Muslims in orthodox Bulgaria, documents a centuries-old custom in North Albania with ‘Sworn Virgins’ or looks behind the closed doors of Bulgarian children's homes. Hristova approaches her subjects with intuition and emotion and experiments with different genres and the ambiguity of photographic imagery. Snapshots combine with staged images and precise observations of situations, opening up an associative space, in which there is still scope for individual interpretations and points of contact.

Exhibitions (selected)

 * Stranger World Stadtmuseum Munich, FotoDoks, 2013

Books and catalogues

 * Strangers in Their Own Country. Berlin: Talents 11, 2008
 * 24 Stunden Berlin. Göttingen: Steidl, 2009
 * The City. Becoming and decaying. Stuttgart: Hatje Cantz, 2010
 * The Other Side. Heidelberg: Kehrer, 2012
 * State of the Art Photography. Düsseldorf: Richter & Fey, 2012
 * On Borders. Stuttgart: Hatje Cantz, 2012
 * Sworn Virgins. Heidelberg: Kehrer, 2013. ISBN 978-3-86828-347-1