Alex Majoli was a guest of FotoFabrika in 2017 with his project “Me, Myself and the EU,” created specifically for the festival. Back then, Majoli flew to Bulgaria completely anonymously in advance and visited places he found particularly interesting, which he photographed because, as he said when we eventually uncovered him, “my first exhibition in Bulgaria cannot be without a Bulgarian image.”

TODAY, MAJOLI RETURNS WITH A MASTERCLASS FOR 15 BULGARIAN PHOTOGRAPHERS.

The event will take place from May 27 to 29 in Sofia. Applications are submitted by filling out this form.

What does a photograph actually do? Does it show what was, or rather how someone chose to see it?

In his masterclass, Alex Majoli will start from the documentary—the most immediate and accessible offering of photography—only to gently unsettle it. Majoli is known for working with real situations while introducing theatrical lighting, control, and a sense of staging. In this way, it becomes clear how much of the “reality” in an image is, in fact, a matter of choice.

The focus of this masterclass is on infusing meaning into the image beyond a “properly told story.” Participants will closely explore how a seemingly simple photograph can allow for multiple readings, or how a series of images may deliberately avoid explaining the whole story, leaving gaps for the viewer to fill.

Work will be done with both single images and series—paying attention to the connections between frames, to omissions, to what remains outside the frame, and how that is sometimes where the “narrative” begins.

This masterclass is for photographers who work with real situations but want to understand how each of their decisions shapes those situations—and how to do so consciously.

ALEX MAJOLI

was born in Ravenna, Italy, in 1971 and graduated from the Art Institute in his hometown.

The central focus of his work is the human condition and the theater of our everyday life. His professional path began with a series of photographs documenting the closure of the infamous mental asylum on the island of Leros, Greece, which led to his first monograph, “Leros.” The project was influenced by his engagement with the theories of Franco Basaglia, a pioneer of modern mental health reform, known for dismantling psychiatric hospitals in Italy.

Over the years, Majoli has worked as a photojournalist. His extensive experience photographing people in all kinds of situations led him to explore the idea of the individual as an actor in their own life. He realized that his profession prompts people to perform roles within their natural environments, and he seeks to amplify this effect by using artificial lighting to dramatize their otherwise routine everyday life.

His images become scenes from films in which people express themselves through performance, leaving the viewer to wonder whether the images depict fact or fiction.

He has been part of Magnum Photos since 1996 and became a full member in 2001.