This black-and-white photographic series explores Bulgaria’s lingering communist past, capturing crumbling monuments, brutalist architecture, and industrial ruins as quiet witnesses to history. Growing up in Australia during the 70s and 80s, with the Cold War as a distant backdrop, I was drawn to these physical traces of an era I only knew from afar. The tonal contrasts reflect the ideological rigidity and complexities of that time, inviting viewers to consider how the past continues to shape the present and slowly fades into memory.

These images are on display as part of the Ballarat International Foto Biennale (BIFB) Open Program from 23 August to 19 October 2025 at Ellington’s Wine Bar, 405A Sturt Street, Ballarat. The images will also be available for purchase, $300 each for an unframed A2 print, $500 each for framed, all are editions of 5.