"Fresco-Hunting" Photo Research Expedition 2018

The project is a unique opportunity for everyone to take part in an expedition for documentation of abandoned medieval churches/chapels and their frescoes in Western Bulgaria, to enhance his/her photography skills, to gain knowledge about Orthodox Christianity and Byzantine and Medieval Balkan civilization as well as methods for documentation of architectural monuments and frescos; to visit many historic sites and museums in Bulgaria and Serbia; and to attend an introductory lecture on Photogrammetry and Reflectance Transformation Imaging in collaboration with Queen's University, Canada. Academic credits are available for students through NBU, Bulgaria. Season Dates: 13 May - 27 May, 2017

The decline of Bulgarian and Byzantine Empires (14th - 15th centuries), the rise and fall of the Serbian Kingdom (and Empire from 1346 to 1371), the Ottoman conquest of southeastern Europe and the height of Ottoman power (second half of the 14th century to the end of the 17th century) highlight the Late Medieval period in the Balkans. The churches and chapels which will be visited and studied during the field school were built during these turbulent times in one of the few Balkan areas where the traditions of all the major Balkan Late Medieval art schools and guilds (those of Constantinople, Tarnovo, Ohrid, Thessaloniki, Mount Athos, Epirus, and Crete) met.