© Nikola Mihov
The Sea Inside
On June 2014, the Black Sea town of Varna, Bulgaria, was hit by heavy rains. Тhe suburb of Asparuhovo was swamped by a three-metre high wave destroying everything in its path, killing 13 people.
© Nikola Mihov
According to the authorities, the disaster was due to an illegal waste site and unmaintained drains which allowed a large amount of water to collect and subsequently sweep away the illegally built houses. However, the residents believe that the huge wave was not caused by the torrential rain but by a breakage of the nearby military base’s reservoir. Rumors of divine retribution, UFO interference and even a HAARP (American military program) attack also spread.
Right after the flood Nikola Mihov spent three days in Asparuhovo documenting the interiors of some of the worst hit houses in the Roma neighborhood, as well as the stories of their inhabitants.
Nikola Mihov was born in Sofia in 1982. In 2002 he moved to Paris, where he became interested in photography. He graduated in Visual Arts-Photography at New Bulgarian University in Sofia in 2011. He received the photography award of the Union of Bulgarian Journalists (2012) and was nominated for the Essl Art Award (2011) and the Deutsche Börse Photography prize (2014). Nikola is a co-founder of the virtual museum of the communist-era graphic design in Bulgaria (www.socmus.com) and the platform for contemporary Bulgarian photography Bulgarian Photography Now (www.bulgarianphotographynow.com)