Bulgarian photographer Nikolay Pandev says he prefers to let his photos do all the speaking for him, rather than “boring viewers with testimonials,” but he does explain that he loves to travel and enjoys life to the fullest. His passion seems to ooze through each and every image, revealing breathtaking scenes as he goes “beyond boundaries to live, experience and capture that unique moment in time,” because, as he writes, “before you know it it’s gone forever.”

Though Pandev lives in London, he says he could easily live anywhere. And, “If not a photographer,” he adds, “I might have been a chef, a painter, a mathematician, a sculptor, an engineer, or an interior designer. In fact, I’ve done some of that, and I’ve been successful. But anyway. The bottom line is that my artistic nature helped me discover photography, and I’m in love with it. I just can’t help it. And what makes me a better photographer is the fact that I am not motivated by money.”

“Nick,” as his friends call him, is one of only a very few Bulgarian photographers who’ve been featured on National Geographic. Born and raised in Bulgaria, he’s been living in England for the past 15 years.

Pictured above, is a magnificent scene in Bjarnarhöfn, Iceland, where the aurora borealis provides an especially stunning backdrop.

Tjörn, Iceland

Santorini, Greece

The Colosseum, Rome

London Tower Bridge

Rock of Gibraltar