A View Out Of Varna By Daniel Benning

Collection of images captured during my recent trip to Varna Bulgaria, the majority of these were taken on the outskirts of Varna itself in small predominately poor village areas. I was surprised by the amount of run down rural buildings with many being abandoned, falling down or rebuilt with whatever materials could be found. I went about travelling through these small collection of outbuildings and houses by foot and was met by not only hostility from the local dogs but also the residents, I could tell I wasn’t in a safe environment so worked quickly to capture what I could and move onto the next village. Later on in the day an older Bulgarian man explained to me that many of the people living in and around these communities are cautious of outsiders as they often buy land near there properties and employ travellers to do work as they are cheap labour. Unfortunately this is the main source of the problems around these areas with theft and crime high with the cheaper workers often being the guilty party. It reminded me of many back home grumbling about the amount of people living in England that weren’t born here, talking of how our system is pushed to the brink and exploited.

I think the bigger picture is regularly missed here, what if the shoe was on the other foot. We forget the opportunities we have in this country that are often passed up without thought, I hope this set provokes a little thought and appreciation for our surroundings.

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