Oh, hello.
I'm Mr. Finch, one half of this blog. I like music, and photography, so it's only natural that I would like Patti Smith, whose Book of Days was a revelation.
Now, Mrs. Finch and I are tied to several countries, one of which is Bulgaria, and when we hopped on a tram to the center of Sofia, we went to the back and started snapping away. Patti's book was on my mind, probably because I had finished it in Sofia in what must have been late 2023, and I mentioned to my darling wife the idea of taking a picture for every day of this new year.
Common inspiration ensued and, well, this is the result. We've resolved to posting our picture-a-day every Sunday, in groups of seven (except for this week, because the year started on a Wednesday). Posts will be labeled either Mr. Finch or Mrs. Finch, depending on who's taken the pictures.
Let's get to it.
Wednesday, 1 January
In Sofia, Christmas apparently continues into the new year. We spotted this richly decorated tram on Graf Ignatiev street, opposite the Ciela bookstore. Until not so long ago, it was Orange and not Ciela. That bookshop has now moved to the nearby Slaveykov square. Sofia has a lot of interesting bookshops, and Mrs. Finch especially has a field day whenever we're here.
Thursday, 2 January
Stamboliyski Boulevard. There was something dark and mysterious in the way this man was walking. I caught a vibe on account of the dense fog/smog, where everything felt threatening in a latent way (not that I thought this guy or anyone else would have done anything to us). I actually love the fog for that very reason. One of my favorite memories of a past life in which I was the poet Jay Harold is walking back from a band rehearsal through a dense fog on Halloween.
Friday, 3 January
Our main cameras. I shoot primarily with a Nikon D3400 (not sponsored) that I got for Christmas more years ago than I care to admit, and while Mrs. Finch likes to shoot with her phone, this hard-earned Minolta (also not sponsored) is her second weapon of choice.
Saturday, 4 January
The first snowfall of the year. Sofia in the snow has something magical and timeless. It doesn't snow quite as much in Belgium, where I'm from, but when it does everything changes. Here, things change visually but it's still business as usual. They're more used to it here.
Sunday, 5 January
After a botched attempt of photographing Vitosha (looming on the left) à la Sugimoto, this interesting trio of buildings caught my eye. Without meaning to sound disrespectful, there's something imperial about the way these buildings are set up. It's giving Death Star, as the cool kids say. Sofia sure has some fascinating architecture if you look for it!
