WINDSCAPES

Lily Toushek was born in Bulgaria in 1979, which at the time was one of the socialist totalitarian states of Eastern Europe. Growing up in a family with a passion for photography, she took her first steps in the image-making process under the guidance of her father.

She was a young adolescent when the Berlin Wall and the Iron Curtain, a historical dividing line between the capitalist countries and socialist bloc, fell. During the same period, she also lost her father in a fatal accident. In the years that followed, the world she knew drastically altered, and she sought her place in it through the artistic possibilities of photography. Possessing her father's camera provided a possible link to her deceased parent, as well as an artistic language and identity consciousness.

The young photographer’s upbringing in a country in transition from socialism to democracy instilled in her a strong sense of justice, and she eventually earned a double master's degree in Law and International Relations and began working in the fields of human rights and the right to a fair trial for victims of domestic violence, with a keen interest in humanitarian law and armed conflicts. Nonetheless, she has always had a strong need for creative expression, and she eventually returned to visual arts by pursuing a Postgraduate degree at the National Art Academy of Sofia, Bulgaria. She commenced a practice-based PhD in photography at Charles Darwin University in Australia in 2018 and is currently completing her dissertation.

In stark contrast to her career as an attorney, Toushek is fascinated by the hidden meanings in the landscape revealed by ancient mythologies from around the world. Her passion for storytelling, windsurfing, and travel inspired the creation of a number of photo essays featuring wind and sea myths. After returning to Bulgaria due to the spread of the Corona virus, she began working as a photojournalist. For the past two years, she has covered as a stringer for Dnevnik Daily, a Bulgarian national newspaper.