Svetlana Bachevanova
Svetlana Bachevanova is a Bulgarian American photojournalist and visual human rights advocate whose work is rooted in Eastern Europes political upheavals.
Her practice is built on witness led storytelling, combining fast moving news instincts with long term attention to people living through history.
Bachevanova began as chief photographer at Demokrazia, Bulgarias first anti communist newspaper, covering the collapse of communist rule and the regions cascading revolutions. Her reporting followed pivotal moments including Boris Yeltsins 1991 coup attempt in Russia, the revolution in Romania, the Baltic states independence movements, and the conflicts that followed the break up of Yugoslavia.
Svetlana later became the first woman chief photographer at the Bulgarian News Agency, strengthening her ability to translate complex political change into human scale pictures. Across the Balkan wars and the wider post Soviet shift, she built an archive defined by proximity, restraint, and a refusal to sanitise violence or erasure.
In 2001 she relocated to New York and co founded FotoEvidence, later establishing FotoEvidence Press as a dedicated publisher and advocacy platform for documentary photography that confronts injustice. As executive director, she conceived and leads the FotoEvidence Book Award and the FotoEvidence W Award, backing long form projects that often struggle to find commercial routes to publication.
Under her direction, FotoEvidence has published more than 40 books from photographers in nearly 30 countries, and has mounted exhibitions in New York as well as venues across Europe and the United States. Her editorial approach treats photography as evidence, insisting on careful context, ethical collaboration, and durable public access.
In 2024 she helped launch FotoEvidence Ukraine in partnership with the Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers, supporting Ukrainian photographers to document the ongoing war and its impact on civilians. The initiative focuses on building photobook records for libraries and schools, keeping authorship and narrative authority with those living the story. It extends her commitment to accountability, cultural preservation, and the protection of truthful imagery.
Exhibitions
FotoEvidence Book Award exhibition, New York
Ukraine: Love and War, FotoEvidence exhibition, Belgrade