Kamen Bonev was the Natural Color Camera Club of Pittsburgh's 1998 Photographer of the Year, but he is just getting his first public exhibit.

Through Oct. 15, visitors will be able to see some of his latest work in "Faces of Bulgaria" at the Bulgarian-Macedonian National Education and Cultural Center in West Homestead, where 55 of his color photographs celebrate the richness of his native culture.

The photos were taken at last year's National Folklore Festival in Koprivshtich, a town of 3,150 people near the Balkan Mountains, fewer than 100 miles from the country's capital, Sofia. The festival, which started in 1965, is held once every five years and draws thousands of performers.

	Tony Tye, Post-Gazette Kamen Bonev, a Bulgarian photographer, stands near one of the pieces in his exhibit at the Bulgarian-Macedonian National Educational and Cultural Center in West Homestead. The show covers a national folk festival in Bulgaria. Click photo for larger image.

"My visit in 2005 gave me the opportunity to capture with digital photography the traditions of dance, costuming and folklore of my native country," Mr. Bonev said.

Elsa Limbach, a board member at the center, summed up the exhibit this way:

"The combination of youthful, middle-age and elderly subjects highlights the continuity of cultural traditions passed down from one generation to the next. Each face represents an individual story, but, taken together, the photos suggest the character of Bulgaria."

As a student in Bulgaria, Mr. Bonev studied photography and cinematography at the College of Photography and the National Academy of Theater and Film Arts in Sofia.

"When I graduated with a master's degree in movie and TV photography, my final work, an ecological study of the Black Sea, was the first of its kind in the school," he said.

Since his graduation, his professional work has included forensic and medical photography, underwater video and still photography for archeological and biological research along the Bulgarian coast. He's also taught forensic photography at the Bulgarian Police Academy and worked for Bulgarian television on environmental issues.

In 1994, he moved to Pittsburgh with his wife, Bonka, and daughter, Boriana, when Mrs. Boneva enrolled as a visiting scholar in anthropology at the University of Pittsburgh. Unfortunately, Mrs. Boneva passed away two years ago. Currently, Mr. Bonev is employed as the manager of the digital photography department for Colortech Photographic Imaging, Inc. in Pittsburgh.

"The photographic exhibit ties in nicely with our mission to preserve and perpetuate the culture of Bulgaria and Macedonia ... ," said Penka French, cultural center president.

The Cultural Center is in a two-story building in West Homestead completed in 1935. It is the oldest Bulgarian organization in the United States and the only one with a cultural museum. Membership includes about 100 local families and others from around the nation.

"There are about 250 Bulgarian families living in southwestern Pennsylvania at the present time, but our numbers are growing due to an influx of new immigrants," Mrs. Penka said.

"Faces of Bulgaria" is at the Bulgarian-Macedonian Culture Center, 449 W. Eighth Ave., West Homestead, through Oct. 15. Ad- mission is free, and the photographs are for sale. Hours are from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays and by appointment. Phone 412-461-6188. Many of Mr. Bonev's images are available online at www.kb55.com.