Sofia, Bulgaria.

I took this photo during a one day stop off in Sofia during the summer of 2017. The sculpture is one of a series that compose the Monument to the Soviet Army, situated in a park in the centre of the city. The monument was constructed in 1954 in honour of Soviet forces who aided Bulgaria during the second world war. Curiously enough, the first McDonald's restaurant to feature the "golden arches" logo was opened in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1953, the preceding year. While this part of the world has long served as a chessboard for the real and ideological battles of East and West, it seemed borderline comical to find such classic communist and capitalist imagery in such close proximity. I doubt very much that I am the first observer to inwardly smile at this deliciously ironic juxtaposition or the first photographer to force this composition.