Born in Sofia, Bulgaria, Ivan Kristoff’sinterests have aimed at blending new heights in photography with new dimensions in his vertical operations.
Ivan’s passion for helicopters, paragliders and motorcycles illustrates his never abiding focus on pursuing the element of danger. “I live to be challenged. I love pushing the extreme and living on the edge.” His photographs illustrate his motus vivendi. The photographs vividly exhibit how Ivan‘s love of mountain climbing and paragliding have resulted in breathtaking aerial photographs.
His team-mates have concluded that the secret of his success is never accepting conventional thinking and traditional routes in achieving his goals. Nevertheless his followers attest that Ivan always tests his theories and lives by his belief “Never stop seeking challenges.”
Internationally known for his bold projects and cutting-edge use of technology in inaccessible places, Ivan continues to be an experimenter and pioneer.His innovative photographs reveal his interest in documenting innovative aerial and technical operations.
The series of photographs in this exhibition confirm Ivan’s statement “When I am testing unprecedented concepts of aerial acrobatics such as rope rescue and remote access, at the same time I capture by means of photography the dynamics of my airborne gymnastics.” A recent mission in ascending on a rope suspended from a M17 helicopter, in collaboration with the Bulgarian Air Force Tactical Aviation Corps, he tested a new hely-rope-ascending technique. He recalled: “It was unbelievable. I felt like being in a laundry machine. While suspended from the helicopter, I experienced the whirlpool effect from the rotation of the propellers. I was prepared to black out from the acceleration, although common sense impelled to descend and abort the mission, I continued to climb up the rope.”
Among the many projects, Ivan has rappelled and climbed from Eurocopter, Mi-17 Bulgarian Tactical Aviation, Police and private twin-engine helicopters. Ivan’s priority millennium project is to self-test how during emergency crisis civilian and government helicopters can be employed in innovative aerial operations for vertical rescue.
His projects have appeared in Toronto Computes, Computer Player, Quebec Micro, The Athlete, Bulgarian Army, National Post, The Toronto Sun, The Globe and Mail, Town Crier, Mississauga News, Mississauga Business Times, etc. Leading Fortune 500 companies including IBM, Sony Ericsson and Canon have showcased Ivan’s project in their marketing advertisement. His wireless remote photography achievements have resulted not only in investigation into the vertical world, but also into the nature of the human spirit. “My photos speak of my life, what I do for a living and what I live for.”
As a member of the Nikon Professional Services (NPS), Ivan is among the international group of Special Nikon Photographers.
