Photography is my weapon in the ongoing battle with the ego, and a mentor that teaches me to open myself and enter someone else’s world, setting aside my own preconceptions and judgments. The camera reminds me that every life has a story worth respecting. I am drawn to the imperfect, the fleeting, and the incomplete — the elements that make life whole.

Photography is my way of connecting with life and a reminder that I may not yet fully understand what true empathy is.

Artist Bio

Talking about herself in the third person still feels strange to Deni Stanev, but here goes.

Born in Bulgaria, Deni moved to the United States in 2005, beginning her creative journey in Los Angeles, California, where she worked as a cosmetologist. Her love for visual storytelling took root during those years, while working on editorial photo shoots as a makeup artist.

In 2022, she and her family settled in Kentucky, drawn by the slower pace and the quiet rhythm of rural life. The move brought a sense of stillness and introspection that deepened her connection to photography — a way to hold onto moments that might otherwise fade and to explore the spaces between memory and time.

Inspired by nature, literature, and music, Deni is drawn to the subtleties of human emotion and the unspoken stories that reveal who we are. Through her photographs, she seeks to listen and connect — finding beauty and truth in the ordinary, and turning the act of seeing into an act of empathy.

A self-taught photographer, her work earned First Place in the Accomplished Photographers Division at the 2023 Kentucky State Fair. She participated in the Mountain Workshops in Photojournalism in Williamsburg, Kentucky (2024) and Maysville, Kentucky (2025), and is currently pursuing Professional Photographer Certification with the Professional Photographers of America (PPA).

She is a member of the Photography Club of Greater Cincinnati and the Ohio River Valley Artists Guild.