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MIHAELA AROYO

Mihaela Aroyo

Mihaela Aroyo is a documentary photographer based in Varna, Bulgaria. She started her career as a press photographer, working for the Bulgarian newspaper “Trud” and BulFoto Agency. Since 2020, she works as a freelancer and explores themes such as cultural identity, history, folklore, environment, and personal stories.

Mihaela holds a Bachelor’s degree in Photography from New Bulgarian University and a Master’s degree in History from St. Cyril and St. Methodius University of Veliko Tarnovo. She is a VII Academy Level 3 alumna. Her work has been published in The New Yorker, National Geographic, and Die Zeit.

Since 2019, Mihaela has been actively involved with the Bulgarian diaspora in the historical region of Bessarabia, located in Moldova and Ukraine. Her curiosity to meet the diaspora has grown into a deep connection, and her work now revolves around this community. For the past five years, her project “Dreaming in Bulgarian” has documented the culture and explored identity with an emphasis on history. Mihaela has visited over 60 villages and towns in Bessarabia, recording audio interviews with community members, photographing traditions and daily life, and building friendships with the people.

In 2022, National Geographic Bulgaria published her text and photographs describing her journeys to Bessarabia and presenting stories from the community’s past and present. Mihaela’s project on Bessarabian Bulgarians also earned her recognition in 2023, as she was named a finalist for the Magnum Foundation’s Inge Morath Award. She also received The Everyday Projects Grant to support her ongoing work on the same project.

Mihaela Aroyo is part of The VII Mentor Program 2024-2025.

Awards and Grants:

2025 – The Joop Swart Masterclass – nominee

2024 – New York Portfolio Review

2023 – The Everyday Projects Grant – winner

2023 – Inge Morath Award – finalist

2023 – Hamburg Portfolio review

Education:

2023 – VII Academy Program for Narrative and Documentary Photography, Level 3

2023 – The Path as Destination – workshop with Vanessa Winship and George Georgiou

2022 – VII Masterclass Arles – scholarship recipient

2022 – Personal documentary photography – workshop with Stratos Kalafatis

2021 – 2025 – St. Cyril and St. Methodius University of Veliko Tarnovo – Master of History

2019 – Nikon-NOOR Academy Masterclass

2013 – 2017 – New Bulgarian University – Bachelor of Photography

Exhibitions:

2025 – Dreaming in Bulgarian – Solo Exhibition, Bulgarian Cultural Institute, Warsaw, Poland

2024 – Dreaming in Bulgarian – Solo Exhibition, Synthesis Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria

2022 – Root – Solo Exhibition, Sofia, Bulgaria

2022 – Root – Solo Exhibition, Varna, Bulgaria

2022 – N/ARODNA ZEMYA, Group Exhibition, Plovdiv, Bulgaria

2021 – Projection by VID Foundation at Photo Vogue Festival, Milano, Italy

2021 – BG PRESS PHOTO, Group Exhibition, Sofia, Bulgaria

2021 – Memento Vivere, Group Exhibiton, Sofia, Bulgaria

2020 – Shared Light, Exhibiton in collaboration with photographer Denislav Stoychev, Sofia, Bulgaria

2019 – Rediscovery of heritage, New Bulgarian University and UNESCO Regional Centre Sofia, Bulgaria

See more about Mihaela:

VII Insider talk on photo stories about small communities
Bulgarian National Television
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Mihaela Aroyo

(b. 1993 in Varna, Bulgaria) is a freelance documentary photographer. In her work she explores themes such as cultural identity, history, folklore, environment and personal stories. Aroyo holds a Bachelor’s degree in Photography from New Bulgarian University and is currently enrolled in a Master’s program in History. She is a scholarship recipient for the VII Masterclass in Arles 2022/2023. Has her work published in The New Yorker, National Geographic and Die Zeit.

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Dreaming in Bulgarian

2019 – ongoing

Tens of thousands of Bulgarians migrated from the Bulgarian territories to Bessarabia after the Russo-Turkish wars of 1806–1812 and 1828–1829 to escape Ottoman raids. Another reason for this resettlement was a policy of the Russian Empire to settle Bessarabia with a population that would improve the border region of the empire. The Bessarabian Bulgarians have since established roots in the region and absorbed elements of other cultures. But to this day, they have preserved their native language and traditions.

The turmoil of historical events turned Bessarabia into a bargaining chip for peace treaties following all the major European wars in the 19th and 20th centuries. In some families, three subsequent generations were born in the very same house, but in three different countries. After World War II, the entire region fell under Soviet rule. The collapse of the Soviet Union created a new border and divided Bessarabia between Moldova and Ukraine.

Belonging to a particular ethnicity, family and home became a shelter from the turbulent passage of historical events.

Today, between 250,000 and 300,000 people identify as Bulgarians in Moldova and Ukraine, but the population rapidly decreases due to economic challenges and the war in Ukraine. The post-Soviet shock is still being felt in this economically neglected region, and people are again migrating in search of a livelihood in larger cities or abroad. Those who remain take pride in their ability to preserve the traditions of their ancestors and feel a special connection to their homeland.