Though the material is assertive in its weight and sheer physical presence, the depicted figure seems to be undecided as to whether it should emerge from its origins into full humanity or remain where it is, busy with slowly decorating its own surface with a natural fortress look. The block of flats behind it echoes the pattern…

The sun beats down, so we trundle, weighed down with heat, into the shade and sit down. A few minutes later half a dozen Roma kids arrive and, judging from the fact that they literally jump straight into the public fountain, they must be feeling pretty much as we do. After a very short time a man comes out of one of the shops about 20 metres away and officiously chases the children away, angrily turning off the water. The slightly cool air that came our way from it succumbs to the pressure from the heat immediately. He stomps off. It feels like a daily ritual…

On the map, Kardzhali is bracketed by two large expanses of water. These are made by two dams. We set off to visit one, driving through endless high-rises, gaining height until we are above them and, in the process, passing through a couple of older villages.

On the way up the final slope I ask M about working under the old regime. He pauses for a moment and says, ‘It was a system based on lies.’ He pauses long enough for a number of alternatives to go through my mind. ‘The government lied to us when they said they would give us a decent wage and living conditions, so we lied to the government when we said we would give them our work.’ The attitude has something to do with the fence-eating tree we pass on the way to the dam.

Walking along the top of the dam there is a large lake to our left and a long, dizzying drop to our right. There is a sea of plastic debris, washed down the Arda and imprisoned against the curved concrete barrier but before I can really get my camera into position a guard rushes out of his little concrete box to prohibit it. I get off one shot, L does too. The guard watches us like a bird of prey although he retreats to his little bunker.