FotoEvidence
Svetlana Bachevanova became a photojournalist as the chief photographer the first democratic newspaper in Bulgaria. Documenting the end of communist rule, she covered the coup attempt against Boris Yeltsin in Moscow, democratic movements in Romania, the Baltic region, and the Balkan wars. Svetlana became the first female chief photographer for the Bulgarian News Agency before moving to New York and founding FotoEvidence. Her work focuses on democracy, human rights and social justice. She currently resides in France.
Work
Current from 2010 – Founder and publisher of FotoEvidence, managing the FotoEvidence Book Awards and the publication of 27 books of documentary photography focused human rights.
2004-2010 – Project Manager, KB Projects, New York, USA
2001-2004 – US correspondent for the Bulgarian newspaper Demokrazia, New York, USA
1997-2001 – Chief photographer for the Bulgarian News Agency, Sofia, Bulgaria
1990-1997 – Chief photographer for the newspaper Demokrazia, Sofia, Bulgaria
FotoEvidence works with documentary photographers whose projects focus on human rights and social justice. An annual FotoEvidence Book Award provides for the publication of the laureates books as part of a series of FotoEvidence books dedicated to humanistic photography.
Images alone will not change the world but images can make issues salient, allow access, and evoke empathy and action. FotoEvidence has partnered on a project basis with more than a dozen advocacy organizations, including: UNOHCHR, UN Women, Human Rights Watch, Open Society Foundation, Amnesty International, WeAreOneSn (Senegal) among others.
FotoEvidence is part of infrastructure of international photojournalism. We provide standing and exposure to laureate and the issue addresse in the laureate's book. In some cases the book stands as tangible evidence of human rights violations.
Publishing books, doing presentations and mounting exhibits of documentary photography focused on human rights.
Each year and international jury of photographers, editors and human rights advocates selects one project and the subjects of that work cannot be predicted. In the past they have included: the treatment of the mentally ill in African countries in crisis, violence against women in Papua New Guinea, children still living with the consequences of Bhopal industrial accident 30 years later, young boys living in slave-like conditions in faux Islamic schools in Senegal. Each year, FotoEvidence reviews visual stories about people and communities among the most vulnerable on earth.
In the cases of the talibes in Senegal, violence against women in Papua New Guinea, and medical treatment for transgendered women in Peru, FotoEvidence saw work it published impact institutional decision makers.
- Elevating understanding of and between people through changing people’s attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors
FotoEvidence publishes documentary photography that often cannot find commercial publication, with goal of raising awareness about critical issues and to support the careers of photojournalists working in the humanist tradition.
The mission is two fold: to create a permanent record and raise awareness of human rights violations and to provide support for
Photographers often undertake the projects FotoEvidence publishes using personal resource.
I grew up in a society where people disappeared without word. Whehre the camps were pushed to the periphery of people's awareness. I imagined FotoEvidence would publish documentary evidence of human rights abuses. It would support photographers working in the humanist tradition to uncover stories and show the world the lives of people suffering the abuses.
I'm a photographer and a democracy and human rights activist. FotoEvidence weds these two essential elements of my identity. I grew up in a communist country, Bulgaria, where news was primarily propaganda and the abuses of the state were kept secret.
By working with the first anti-communist newspaper, Demokratzia, I was able to play a leading role in the democratic movement that reshaped the country. With FotoEvidence my goal was to insure that stories that didn't happen in 'hot spots' or have an immediate media hook were not lost to the world.
I've been doing it for ten years and FotoEvidence has a highly respected international brand in the photojournalism community.
FotoEvidence's role is unique in providing the FotoEvidence Book Award with World Press Photo, that draws submissions from around the world about communities facing violations of their rights or profound social injustice.
The fact that FotoEvidence has survived 10 years is testimony to my ability to overcome adversity. I am publishing work that no one wants to see, much less spend money on purchasing a book to see. Every year has been a struggle, with not being part of the US photojournalism "establishment" where grants and awards frequently appear to be shared among friends.
On a personal note, FotoEvidence depends on me, as I conceived and manage the project. I was living and working in New York when my adult son in Bulgaria required full time assistance. I moved to Bulgaria to assist him while maintaining FotoEvidence. After a year, it became clear that my son required a kidney transplant to survive. I organized to move him to France for the transplant and donated a kidney to him. During this time, the last two years, I continued to work to grow FotoEvidence, initiating the FotoEvidence W Award for a personal story from a female-identifying photographer in partnership with the VII Academy.
I was the chief photographer for the first anti-communist newspaper in Bulgaria and went on to be the first female photo director of the Bulgarian News Agency before emigrating when the Bulgarian communists regained power as the Bulgarian Socialist Party.
I conceived FotoEvidence to carry on my work of using photography to expose violations of human rights and foster social change. Working out of my own small apartment in Brooklyn with one highly-skilled professional volunteer, I have built an "organization" that is highly regarded in the international photojournalism community. I established a partnership with World Press Photo, one of the oldest and most established photojournalism organizations in the world and with the VII Academy, a highly respected educational organization associated with VII Photo Agency.
Along the way, FotoEvidence has collaborated on a project basis with UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN Women, Human Rights Watch, The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, The Open Society Foundation, Amnesty International, Fortify Rights (SE Asia), WeAreOneSn (Senegal), ChildFund Australia and several other activist organizatons working for human rights.
- Hybrid of for-profit and nonprofit
My project is a hybrid between a social enterprise and a not for profit, with the VII Foundation serving as FotoEvidence fiscal sponsor for 501(c) 3 tax deductible contributions in the US.
FotoEvidence has witnessed the photography we helped promote directly influence governments and begin a process of social change.
Vlad Sokin’s work, “Crying Meri: Violence Against Women in Papua New Guinea,” was used by the office of the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights (UNHCHR) in a public education campaign. This campaign was joined by Amnesty International, ChildFund Australia and several other advocacy groups. Sokhin’s images were used in exhibits, advertisements, brochures and carried in demonstrations. The concrete stories he documented fueled the mobilization. Within a year Papua New Guinea passed the first law against domestic violence in the history of the country and revoked a 1972 law that allowed that violence in response to ‘sorcery’ was justified.
Talibes: Modern Day Slaves
Mario Cruz’s work “Talibés Modern Day Slaves” was selected as a finalist for the FotoEvidence Book Award and received first place in the Contemporary Issues category from World Press Photo. it provoked a nearly immediate response from the President of Senegal, who, in June of 2016, ordered the registration of all daaras (Islamic schools) in the country and ordered the police to intervene and assist boys found begging on the street. In the weeks following the President’s announcement, more than 3,000 boys were removed from the streets to shelters or their homes, if they could be located. Since then, Mario Cruz has testified before the European Parliament about the plight of many talibés and they responded by opening an inquiry.
A Light Inside by Danielle Villasana provides an intimate portrait of a community of trans women in Peru. Villasana spent three years on the project, during which time two of her subjects died in the same hospital. When she returned with her book, she attended the opening of a clinic at the hospital dedicated solely to the treatment of trans women. The doctor who opened the clinic credited Villasana's photographs and advocacy with opening his eyes to the unmet medical needs of trans women and inspiring him to create the clinic.
- Women & Girls
- LGBTQ+
- Refugees & Internally Displaced Persons
- Minorities & Previously Excluded Populations
- 3. Good Health and Well-Being
- 5. Gender Equality
- 6. Clean Water and Sanitation
- 10. Reduced Inequalities
We currently partner with World Press Photo in Amsterdam and the VII Academy in New York and Srebenica.
On a project basis over the past ten years we have partnered with UNOHCHR, UN Women, The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty New Zealand, ChildFund Australia, Fortify Rights, WeAreOneSn, World Vision.
Our business model is hybrid. About 30% or revenue comes from sales of books and the balance comes from grants and individual donations primarily in the form or crowdfunding support for individual books.
We started as a social enterprise but soon realized that our model could not survive on sales as we are producing high quality photo books in limited runs, making the unit cost high.
Our business model is flawed. We are excellent at attracting the most significant photojournalism in the world each year but weak on distribution, marketing and sales.
FotoEvidence's path to financial stability could take three forms:
1. An endowment that sustained the book award
2. A significant capital investment that would permit for professional salary and investment in advertising.
3. Partnership with an established publishing house with the resources for advertising and an established distribution network.
This past year grants were received from:
The Grodzins Fund - 7,500
The VII Foundation - 10,000
Heinz Foundation - 10,000
Pittsburgh Foundation Mellon Trust - 15,000
The Opportunity Fund - 5,000
The Fine Foundation - 5,000
We have repeat commitments from the Grodzins Fund and the VII Foundation for grants totaling $15,000 to support the 2021 FotoEvidence W Award.