covering the balatum
"..the smooth surfaces of linoleum floors.. allowed people to wipe away the dust and grime of objects that tied people to the past."
nightwindows
“Shut the curtains! Everyone looks at night!”. . . . . . . .
obrastsova panelka
an ongoing photo essay of people and their panelkas. . . . . . . .
gyps karton
He smiles and slaps on more mud....
building ends
Kalkani is where people gather.
views from new buildings
...and impressively, deteriorating faster than the much older panel blocks. Being inside of one of these offers an interesting framed view back onto our panelkas....
finding the leak
"I'm not. I am but I'm not. I just do everything. I've lived here since the beginning, and I'm curious. So after 40 years, I know how everything in the Panelka works. You've seen what I do with the apartments."
pushing out and glassed in.
pushing the space out, yet the connection to the outside gets further and further.. . . . . . . .
make new, but keep the old
"Make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other's gold."
morning strollers
Every morning the Romi from their neighborhood to the north filter through Trakiya with their souped up strollers and bikes working their way from dumpster to dumpster.
With the construction . . . . . . . .
frames, apertures, and filters
The blocks of Trakiya were designed for maximum sunlight.
True to modernist form, the windows are large, the balconies beyond them reaching out to pull in more sun.
The inhabitants . . . . . . . .
the cost of electricity
"Most everyone speaks fondly of the memories of how they used to go around in tank tops in the house in the winter..."
kolio’s balcony
Every morning Kolio comes to his balcony, parts the fresh white lace curtains, and swings just one of the panels of his glass enclosure inwards. From there, he leans out and lights a cigarette....
loggias v. balconies
Some have innies and some have outties.. . . . . . . .
turn your chair!
The view from my chair, looking in, looks straight into a shelf Nina has used to divide her bed from the rest of the room.
seeing myself
But it's a detached sense of individuality, like a baby discovering their arm or their leg for the first time...
bathroom remodel
"American homes will rot, our concrete will be here for hundreds of years."
full bench insulation
Newspapers, the latest Kaufland ad, pieces of butt sized styrofoam, and other various scraps. Today however....
glowing balconies
Stepping onto the balcony is a particularly conscious action...
cleaning the archives
"People do it anyways, take down the walls, but they don't get our permission, then we have to come in and bust down their doors with the cops..."
fog ships
In the fog though, it suddenly feels like stepping onto a ship setting out on a lonely journey off into my own world.
pakaging
"For a country that grows so much, and a town that used to have the largest factories, we have to resort to getting it all from Turkey!"
childhood mechti
Some over grown. This one is new. And concrete.
locks
at first glance, I thought are 4 pad locks really necessary?
post office
municipal buildings. . . . . . . .
nikolai
fried fish in front of the kalkan.
quest for the green flowers
A very specific pattern of green flowers, specific to the era, specific to a certain taste, specific to a specific person, I assumed.
legal cords
"He gets a TV and I get a TV. Like that."
tile covering
"Our only option was white tiles. That's all there was!"
reflections
'Mom, when will we glass in our balcony? All the other kids have glassed in balconies!'
she was skinny, like me
They looked heavy and as if they had just come from the village...
the entry council
The lace looks forward. The brick turns a shoulder, slyly stepping its own entry down to the ground out back.
neighborhood collection
"Stari pechki, hladunatsi, boileri...."
rainy day entry meetings
a change of scenery, but not a change in conversation.. . . . . . . .