ABOUT

Bilyana Dimitrova is an architectural photographer and filmmaker based in NYC and LA, documenting the built environment inside and out.

Bilyana was born in Sofia, Bulgaria and immigrated to the United States with her parents as a young child. She grew up in NYC and studied fine art photography first at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Art and the Performing Arts in NYC and later with Stephen Shore and Larry Fink at Bard College in upstate New York.

ACHITECTURAL PHOTOGRAPHY & PUBLICATIONS:

Bilyana is the former photo editor of Metropolis magazine and the author of To Each His Home (Princeton Architectural Press). She has received commissions as an architectural photographer since 2002 and her photography has been published in books and magazines worldwide: Architect, Architectural Record, Architectural Digest, The Architect’s Newspaper, The Architectural Review(UK), Interni(Italy), Interior Design, Metropolis, New York Spaces, New York Magazine, and The New York Times. Her writing on architectural photography has been featured in the International Interior Design Association’s Perspective magazine  and she has been interviewed on the subject by Archinect.com and Architizer.com

FILM:

In addition to her architectural photography, Bilyana has been making films since 2018. She has acted as Producer, Director, Cinematographer and Editor on her films. And her films have received notable acclaim: "George Nakashima's Conoid Studio: The Story Behind The Design" was selected for  The Copenhagen Architecture Festival (CAFx) and the Architecture Design Art Film Festival (ADAFF) and "Betances Residence, Bronx, NY" won Runner Up in the 8th annual AIA Film Challenge .

CURATORIAL:

Bilyana curated and participated in the exhibition Beyond The Assignment: Defining Photographs of Architecture and Design, presented by the Julius Shulman Institute, part of Woodbury University's School of Architecture, at the WUHO Gallery on Hollywood Blvd.'s Walk-Of-Fame. Bilyana produced and edited the accompanying exhibition catalog and produced and moderated the accompanying panel, which was hosted by Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions

GUIDING PRINCIPLES

Bilyana Dimitrova’s roots are in the fine art process of image making and she applies them each time she picks up the camera. Bilyana has a conviction to create images that push beyond the expected, offering inventive ways of looking at the built environment. As an architectural photographer and filmmaker, Bilyana satisfies both her creative and professional pursuits. This enables her to not only expertly document but to also artfully interpret the architecture and design. 

Bilyana has had the tutelage of photographers that worked directly with Ezra Stoller, one of the founding fathers of the field of architectural photography, which makes her well steeped in the field’s long history and its founding principles. Principles that encourage the architectural photographer to really look at the architecture and design, swallow it whole, tell its story in pictures, show its character, individuality, and essence, and even bring it to life. These are her guiding principles as she aims to create lasting visual impressions that help make the architecture and design unforgettable. 

For Bilyana, striving to create indelible images is even more crucial in an age when limitless architecture and design news can be digested and forgotten in seconds on the web. In the words of Julius Shulman, another one of the founding fathers of the field of architectural photography, “We must assume our responsibility to infuse LIFE into our presentations!” 

FROM THE PRESS

" Bilyana Dimitrova’s brilliant observation of a data center by Sheehan Partners– violates all the unspoken tenets of commercial photography" - Nicholas Olsberg, The Architectural Review, Jan. '14


" The signature steel waves of a Frank Gehry concert hall in upstate New York, shot by Dimitrova, are relegated to the edge of her frame. She deems their relation to the forms of tree branches and clouds as essential."
Lyra Kilston, Wired magazine’s photo blog RAW FILE, Nov. ‘13

Using Format