Daniel Ladnar shares,

‘Slanchev Bryag is a seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast. In the West, the name of the place is conveniently translated into the tourists’ languages: Zonnestrand, Côte du Soleil, Sonnenstrand, Sunny Beach. The construction of Slanchev Bryag began in 1958, in an area of the country that was described as “empty and deserted”. Within a few years, it had become the largest resort in the People’s Republic and a destination for tourists from both Eastern and Western Europe. After an initial crisis of Bulgarian tourism following the end of the People’s Republic, Sunny Beach has quickly started to recover and expand as the tourists returned. Today, its target market is primarily the Western European tourist trade. In 1989, there were about 100 hotels in Sunny Beach; today, there are more than 800 – most of them built in the early 2000s. The photographs were taken in February 2005, out of season, and instead of tourists the place was busy with workers getting everything ready for the tourist season. There were new buildings and construction sites everywhere, while many of the old places were being remodeled, some were derelict, and others still in use.’

Café Royal Books publishes limited edition Photobooks coveted by fans and collected by major institutions. The Zines focus on British documentary photography. Café Royal is run and founded by Craig Atkinson.

Craig explains ‘My aim is to create a focussed and complete archive of British documentary photography. I publish roughly 70 titles each year with a small edition ‘archive box’ every 100th title. These archive boxes are aimed at major collections, libraries and museums — helping to increase the visibility of the work and making the books publicly accessible for as long as possible. Collectors are wide and varied but include, MoMA NY, Harvard University, Oxford University, Cambridge University, The British Library, The Hyman Collection, Martin Parr Foundation, TATE, V&A / National Art Library’.

36 pages
litho printed in the UK
staple bound
14cm x 20cm