“2157 days” is the first photo book that Martin Iliev publishes. It’s a compilation of photographs and texts, created in the years between 2016 and 2022.
“It’s an emotional and personal look at my inner world and transformations I went through - the death of my father and the closing of a relationship marked by estrangement; the decision to be a father myself and the difficult road to the appearance of my daughter; the pandemic, the diagnosis…
During these years I wandered between the city, the sea and the depression within me. I took photographs occasionally without any specific idea and I was writing down my feelings on paper. I was probably looking for a way out of my melancholy and sadness, only to find more of that in the photographs I took.
These photographs became a record of my emotional state through these challenging periods in my life. It is safe to say I was reflecting on obvious themes and the seasonal nature of my existence. Coping with loss, illness, welcoming new life and em- bracing the uncertainty about how things would be, I was trying to make sense of it all.
”2157 days” is just a glimpse of a life. How many more will there be? Is it all over or is it just the beginning? This story neither begins nor ends with these events. It’s like a document that I have been here, witnessing all those moments.”
2157 days
Self-published 2023
Hardback, 1st edition, 140 pages
The book is published with the support of National Culture Fund, Bulgaria
Photographs & texts: Martin Iliev
Editor: Dimitri Stefanov
Design: Antonina Georgieva
Translator: Georgi Ivanov