This will be a study of the photographs I never usually take. When travelling I try to capture what makes each place unique and special instead of what makes it the same as everywhere else.
During several months of travel across Europe, my primary observation was not the celebrated diversity of local cultures, but a pervasive, encroaching sameness. Whether in the historic centers of the West or the post-socialist landscapes of the East, like Sofia, a singular aesthetic is being “steamrolled” over the unique local identity.
This project documents the “Non-Place”—the airport lounge, the flagship store, the “Instagrammable” cafe—to show that European cities are becoming interchangeable in a global commercial network.
Theoretical Context
Boris Mikhailov (Red series): Mikhailov used the color red as a unifying visual filter to document the omnipresence of Soviet ideology in everyday life. This project adopts a similar strategy, using the “Global Minimalist” aesthetic (black steel, glass, sans-serif typography) as the contemporary “red”—a visual signifier of global capital’s total reach.
Marc Augé (Non-Places): The project focuses on spaces of “transience” that lack enough history or identity to be considered “places.” These are the standardized portals of travel and consumption.
Rem Koolhaas (The Generic City): Documentation of the city that has shed its identity in favor of efficiency and brand-alignment—the city without a “soul” because its soul has been commercialized.
Core Shot List & Categories
Brand-as-Architecture Global logos (Apple, McDonald’s) on 18th/19th-century buildings.
Retail Veneers Standardized storefronts (Zara, H&M) in Sofia vs. Western capitals.
Transit Liminality Airport gates, metro entrances, and hotel lobbies.
Bibliography & References
Augé, M. (1995). Non-Places: Introduction to an Anthropology of Supermodernity. Translated by J. Howe. London: Verso.
Augé defines “non-places” as spaces of transience (airports, supermarkets, hotel chains) that do not integrate other places, have no past, and are identical regardless of their location.
Koolhaas, R. (1995). “The Generic City”. In: Koolhaas, R. and Mau, B., S,M,L,XL. New York: Monacelli Press
Koolhaas argues that as cities grow, they become more similar, losing their “identity” to become functional, repetitive, and ultimately “generic.”
Mikhailov, B. (1996). Red. Zurich: Scalo.
Mikhailov’s photographic series (shot between 1968–1975) used the color red as a unifying element to reveal how political ideology permeates the mundane. This project uses commercial branding in a similar “unifying” capacity.
