Light painting of Ilinden (3). Photographs taken during the Ilinden Uprising (1903) and used by Frederick Moore to illustrate his book “The Balkan Trail” (1906)

In 1906, the American journalist Frederick Moore, who worked for English illustrated periodicals, published his book The Balkan Trail. It is the result of his travels in the Balkans in 1903. 

The book is illustrated with 62 photographs, most of them taken by the author in Macedonia and in the border areas of the Principality of Bulgaria during the Ilinden Uprising. Moore gave fascinating pictorial descriptions of the areas he visited, accompanied by colourful portraits of local representatives. 

The author’s account, his illustrations and the explanations to them are not only fascinating, but also a definite testimony to the Bulgarian character of the Slavic population of the region of Macedonia and the liberation struggle led by it...