A-LONEliness is a storytelling project that explores the emotional landscape of loneliness. Through one-on-one conversations, 15 people from different countries shared their personal experiences with this often silent and complex state.
These intimate stories were published on a dedicated website and later exhibited in Sofia, Bulgaria, with the aim of raising awareness and starting a broader conversation around loneliness.
Alex (Portugal):
It doesn’t matter how many people you have around or how many parties you are invited to, it’s a matter of feeling your own worth.
Claudia (Italy):
Why do you need the word if you have a feeling? You don’t need to know what loneliness is to experience it.
Rodi (Syria/Bulgaria):
It was enough for a young man who spent four years in the army, nine years without family, without friends, without anybody to trust, to talk.
Kristina (Latvia):
But there is a healthy amount of time you can spend by yourself and then it starts to expand and at some point you don’t even know how to interact with people anymore.
Eetu (Finland):
I started using substances because I felt lonely and even when I was using I felt lonely. I stopped using because I felt lonely and I started again because I felt lonely.
Jay (Bulgaria):
We had a dog in Germany who saved me. I could just cuddle him and everything felt okay.
Stefan (Bulgaria):
I think that loneliness and that confusing set of feelings that this word contains, it’s like a quest for every single one of us.
Diana (Bulgaria):
I don’t praise it a lot, this feeling of loneliness, or just maybe there are other things I call it. I don’t say loneliness but call it with other words…
Slim (Tunisia):
I can feel lonely when I am travelling alone, sometimes I hear people saying things which aren’t good for me or anyone, judging people based on their nationality or religion.
Salma (Egypt):
This state is like being locked in a room. You know that you can go out and the door is open, it’s not really locked, but you cannot. You don’t have enough strength to go outside.
Nash (Egypt):
I just felt at that time ‘ok, I don’t want to speak with anyone, that’s not normal’.
Mila (Bulgaria):
We have to find the way to love ourselves because if we don’t love ourselves nobody will love us.
Zach (Germany):
For me, the worst part is that I hardly ever actually talk openly with somebody face to face about this.
Tisho (Bulgaria):
And at some point I realised — I’ve never been so lonely before. And I did it to myself. And it was not pleasant at all, and it was one of the most beneficial times up until now in my life.
Viktorija (North Macedonia/Bulgaria):
Loneliness is different. Loneliness is unpleasant. This is something that can happen to anyone at any time.
In March 2020, the project was exhibited at KO-OP Gallery in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Since then, life has unfolded in many ways for those involved. One of the people who shared their voice here is no longer with us. Their support during the early stages of my journey in photography meant more than I can put into words.
I’ve chosen to keep their story here, not only as part of this archive, but as a quiet tribute — to them, to the weight of what they shared, and to the lasting impact they had on me. In many ways, they helped shape the way I create today.
