Hilal at Foundry

Back from the Foundry Workshop in Istanbul. It's been a really interesting experience, there were some great people there. I went in with two story ideas. One of them came through. My image of Turkey through mass-media was that of a very traditional state, where women are extremely conservative in appearance and behaviour. I was interested in and wanted to document the life of a non-traditional Turkish woman and was lucky to find Hilal, a 30 year-old teacher with a very active social life that to me resembles that of any Western woman of her age and condition.

The following slideshow is what my part of the final presentation in Istanbul looked like. In the following days, I'll keep posting images I shot while working on this story, which did not make it in the final edit. A great thanks to Hilal and her friends, who gave me access to their lives, and to Jared Moossy, my instructor, who guided me through the process!

Another Postcard

Postcard From Istanbul

Que te vaya bien

My friend Andreea - pictured in Prague, below - is about to set off alone on a journey through South America, that will take her a couple of years. Best of luck!

Vama Veche III

After three consecutively failed attempts to wake up at four in the morning, I finally got on the boat with the fishermen who supply the seafood restaurants in Vama Veche.

Vama Veche II

Vama Veche

We're Not All Cut Out for The Dark Side

Long Weekend

Dacia

Dacia is a Romanian car manufacturer, founded by Ceausescu in 1966 with assistance from the French car manufacturer Renault. The French company now owns Dacia. Here are a few pictures of older models, that I shot for a story that ran in Esquire about the past and future of the Romanian car. First photo is taken on the highway, while the other two in a place that dismantles cars for the "Cash for Clunkers" program.

Gay Pride Parade, Bucharest

The Greek Model

Tens of thousands of public sector workers demonstrated in Bucharest against proposed austerity measures. Last image: Marcel Hoara, a politician from the ruling party, is escorted by the police while an angry mob tries to attack him.

Hassle

Shaorma

Decat O Revista is an independent magazine that I contribute to. For their second issue, they came up with this crazy idea of a fashion shoot that combined expensive designer clothing with shaorma, a Middle Eastern sandwich wrap, a type of fast-food that tends to be very popular in Romania, especially within the working class. I guess this was my first fashion shoot. Weird as it may seem, it was a lot of fun. And very tasty.

Freelance Conundrums

I've recently quit my steady job at Mediafax, after working for them for about four years. It's been great for what it was, I am grateful for the confidence they have always shown me and I am positive that it still is the best place to be in, for a news photographer, in this country.

Nevertheless, I felt it was time to move on. I hope to stray a little bit from news photography and devote more time to working on stories and perhaps improving the way I make portraits. This freedom I now enjoy does not come without a price, of course. Freelancing - some down-to-earth friends call it unemployment - brings up a challenging conundrum: how do you shoot what you like and at the same time keep paying your bills on time? Hopefully the answer to this question will not prove to be too painful.

Strongly Recommended: Carry Me Ohio

This is a lovely book by a great photographer, Matt Eich. Here's how you can get one of these limited edition books. Keep in mind that a way to promote great photography is to support each other's work.

Cobain

Each year on May 1st, a lot of rockers, punkers and basically everyone else in Bucharest who's got nothing better to do heads for Vama Veche, a small village/hip resort on the Black Sea coast. I went there to photograph the crowds for DOR magazine. Shit hit the fan when people started a bonfire competition. It's the first time I have seen a bar floor pulled apart and set on fire.

A Moment in Time. My Contribution.

Here's my contribution to NYT's project called "A Moment in Time". Mircea Mitran, 77 year-old, plays with two of the kids in his herd, in the village of Limanu, approximately 260 km SE of Bucharest, Romania.

Floral

Happy Easter!

The Easter lamb in Romania is pretty much like the Thanksgiving turkey in the US. Except that around here there's no Presidential pardon for any of these guys.