The Last(Eternal)mime

Art is not business. Business in which to invest and expect great profits

Nowadays we talk and talk and talk. Everyone has opinion and wants to share it – on the phone, on social media. We rarely listen to anybody who doesn’t share our views. And the same goes for the way we see things. Visual stimulation is all around us. We’ve become addicted to flashing lights, CGI and all other special effects in the fast paced movies that are breaking all sales records nowadays.Often, behind all this buzz – in our gaze and in our ears, there is no space left for our own imagination. Sometimes, in these situations, all we need is …less. This is what i thought when I saw mime performance for the first time.

I am Hristo Rusev, 23 years old photojournalist from Bulgaria. I was 14 years old when I first took up the camera and I have not put it down ever since. Photography became a part of me and the way I see life. But this story is not about me. This is the story of one ancient art in the 21 century.

Four years ago I met Guerassim Dichliev, one of the closest students of the great Mime Marcel Marceau. From Dichliev I learned that after Marceau passed away, mime performances became less popular and this trend continues.

People often think that Mimes are clowns, what they do is for kids or just an act to amuse people on the streets. In fact mime is a theatrical technique used as early as the days of ancient Greece and the Roman Empire. What Mime artist do is they physically express objects, character, emotion, and story line without the use of speech.This technique of strongly emotive facial and bodily expression is used in many performing arts – dance, theater, stage combat..etc.

Mime shows are not meant to only make you laugh. Yes, they can do that.But they will also make you feel deep emotions, to relive the story they are telling as vivid as your imagination allows and the most important – to think about everyday objects, situations and behavior in a manner that we normally don’t have time for.

I was fascinated by that art and started going to Dichliev’s shows in Bulgaria and France, watched him rehearse and tutor his students in Paris.

I photographed him from 2014 to 2018. All the special moments I captured I am presenting in a Photo Book, called “The Last(Eternal) Mime”.

You can check it out and decide for yourself if Mime is more than a painted face.

If you like, help us and donate on the link below:

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-last-eternal-mime--2/x/18069505#/