Surva

Every year in the night of the 13th to the 14th of January and on the day of the 14th of January in the villages of the Pernik region, Bulgaria, the loud sound of hundreds of copper and bronze bells is heard. Men, youth and children with self-made costumes of animal hide and masks shaped up like the heads of peculiar creatures and animals with scary muzzles go around the villages and with the help of special magical dances try to scare away the evil spirits and fortune-tellers. The photographic series depicts this local ritual, called Surva, bringing wishes for rich harvest, health and fertility of people and animals.