28 Jan The Photographer

Born in Sofia, Bulgaria, Ivan Kristoff’s interests 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.” The photos exhibit how Ivan‘s love of mountain climbing and paragliding have resulted in breathtaking aerial photographs.

His first exhibition was at the HART House of the University of Toronto, when he was a student and showed unique images of his rope access work at extreme heights. Technology allows Ivan to capture the element of danger of his challenging projects. He gives us a “bird’s eye view” of his operations. This remote photography perspective gives the observer a unique view from an angle that captures a stunning picture of the vertical environment.

The secret of his success is the ability to never accept conventional thinking and traditional routes in achieving his goals. 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.”

The secret of his success is the ability to never accept conventional thinking and traditional routes in achieving his goals. As a member of the Nikon Professional Services (NPS), Ivan is among the international elite group of Special Nikon Photographers.

Motus Vivendi

Ivan Kristoff is a visionary  artist. His photos illustrate his motus vivendi. They  exhibit vividly how Ivan’s love of remote access and aerial photography have resulted in breathtaking pictures involving his ability to go where no man has stepped before.When you are up in the air, a few hundred meters off the ground, you want to rely on the right equipment. For high-rise photography, Ivan Kristoff  relies only on  his Nikon cameras.

Ivan Kristoff’s interests 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.

Ivan Kristoff’s Extreme Aerial  Photography

Ivan Kristoff is an action photographer who has won international renown for his innovation in rope access work and aerial rescue initiatives. He has accomplished his achievement on the tallest structure in the world, while studying at the University of Toronto. He has a Bachelor in Science and now is studying Masters Degree on Advertising and Brand Management at the New Bulgarian University.

Kristoff has created a number of exhibitions on rope access and aerial operations, including one at the Dubai Helishow 2010.

His technical demonstrations, lectures, presentations, essays and articles on vertical and aerial operation, has placed him at the pinnacle of her field.

He is an expert in special shooting sessions, trips, logistics, video production and extreme sport sessions. He has journeyed far and wide across the world over the past decade. “I am addicted to travel, I’m a full-time dreamer, and I really love extreme sports,” he says.

When it comes to digital processing, he prefers the Nikon equipment and Lenovo Thinkpad.

“The Thinpad  is a very important piece of equipment for any photographer who needs to develop, manage, and process photos. This is why your choice is so important: It’s  monitor  shows the color rendering of every photo before it’s printed. This means that it’s necessary to have an adequate visualization tool to deliver quality and ensure the photographer’s creative ideas aren’t lost on the journey from click to print,” says Kristoff.

That’s what the Canadian Spiderman set out to prove in his latest shoot. Over the last decade Ivan Kristoff has been flying high in the air in order to capture some unique aerial combat training shots. This year he is achieving new heights in the air – with the best aviators, he has ever met.

The new photo session and location scouting for a documentary film for the Bulgarian aviation, features some pilots and airborne rope access experts hanging off unexpected aerial settings.

“The idea was to shoot aviators in situations where nobody would expect them,” says Kristoff. “A lot of aerial shots look very similar. The idea of this shoot was to try to capture something really different”, he adds.

Working in extreme location at extreme heights is a challenge. I have to improvise with the safety procedures and explore new ways for film making.

Ivan will use the new Samsung tablet with the Microsoft 8 Surface, along with his Microsoft mobile smartphone for the shoot. Then he will follow his maxim of ‘being in the right place at the right time and doing the right thing’.

“I like unusual things and go searching for them. Even if that means to go high in the air”
, he says.

Kristoff has been working on this idea for over 10 years. The concept for each image had been worked out in detail and will be sketched by the  the Microsoft 8 Surface tablet. The Bulgarian/Canadian photographer has only praise for everyone involved. “I want to thank Radoslav Nikolov of Microsoft Bulgaria and all my friends for making it possible!”, he says.

To enter a competition to win one of Kristoff prints, click here.

No Limits and No  Boundaries for Rope access and Highrise Emergency Response Solutions

Ivan Kristoff ’s solutions for operations at extreme heights, emergency response and rescue applications have played an important role in the exploration of verticality and setting up new trends in the suspended access environment. He contributes to the development of innovative procedures for rapid deployment of emergency responders from ENSTROM 480 B light turbine helicopter and MI-24, the world’s fastest helicopter.

His team of aerial response specialists have extensive experience in extreme conditions.

Video: New dimensions in Ivan Kristoff’s photography

Rescue and emergency response photo/video monitoring

Ivan Kristoff leads the way with his aerial images.  This photo depicts his passion for visual expression and describes best his extreme sports and volunteer rescue activities.

Nearly 10 years ago Ivan Kristoff  stepped firmly on top of the world’s tallest structure. As work at extreme heights entered the mainstream, Ivan was at the forefront to tell the stories of many achievements in the vertical engineering. American, Canadian, Arabian  and other TV stations from all over the world have turned to Ivan to bring them startling and memorable video coverage of his world records and special events. He has also worked with companies such as Cannon, Nikon, Sony Ericsson, IBM, Traser and Fortis Swiss watches and Nike, to shape advertising campaigns.

Ivan Kristoff”s profession as a rope access technician  has taken him to the top of some of the tallest structures on the planet. His journey as a volunteer aerial rescuer and addiction to the high adrenaline and places has made him do things that others have not done in the air. His photographs were exhibited in galleries around the world, as well as in magazines and newspapers. Through his work Ivan shows places where no one has been before.

Now he holds workshops throughout Europe and MENA. He is also making a documentary film on the 1ooth Anniversary of the Bulgarian aviation and writing a book that tells the stories behind some of his most powerful images.