This series brings together portraits of Roma, taken between 2010 and 2019 in Transylvania and the Banat, mostly in villages and small rural communities.
All photographs were taken spontaneously – encounters on the street, in front of houses and farmyards. Here, rejection is the rule, not the exception: the history of the Roma in Romania has shaped communities that keep firmly to themselves; distrust of outsiders runs deep and is at times expressed in no uncertain terms. Every image in this series is therefore a fortunate moment – a consent granted, never taken for granted. In the countryside, this approach succeeds far more readily than in the cities.
What impresses me about the Roma is their cultural persistence: while the majority population has long since adapted to Western ways of life, many Roma communities protect their own culture with striking consistency. This becomes visible in their clothing – the floral dresses and headscarves of the women, the dark suits and hats of the men – as well as in their houses and interiors. Yet this resilience is far from assured: the younger generation increasingly looks to Western models, and the question of how long this way of life will endure resonates in every portrait.
At the same time, the social reality remains unmistakable: many Roma, especially in rural areas, still belong to the poorest strata of society. The portraits neither conceal this nor put it on display. Their stance is one of encounter at eye level: the sitters decide for themselves how they wish to appear – with pride, seriousness, and self-assurance – asserting their dignity before the viewer.
This series brings together portraits of Roma, taken between 2010 and 2019 in Transylvania and the Banat, mostly in villages and small rural communities.
All photographs were taken spontaneously – encounters on the street, in front of houses and farmyards. Here, rejection is the rule, not the exception: the history of the Roma in Romania has shaped communities that keep firmly to themselves; distrust of outsiders runs deep and is at times expressed in no uncertain terms. Every image in this series is therefore a fortunate moment – a consent granted, never taken for granted. In the countryside, this approach succeeds far more readily than in the cities.
What impresses me about the Roma is their cultural persistence: while the majority population has long since adapted to Western ways of life, many Roma communities protect their own culture with striking consistency. This becomes visible in their clothing – the floral dresses and headscarves of the women, the dark suits and hats of the men – as well as in their houses and interiors. Yet this resilience is far from assured: the younger generation increasingly looks to Western models, and the question of how long this way of life will endure resonates in every portrait.
At the same time, the social reality remains unmistakable: many Roma, especially in rural areas, still belong to the poorest strata of society. The portraits neither conceal this nor put it on display. Their stance is one of encounter at eye level: the sitters decide for themselves how they wish to appear – with pride, seriousness, and self-assurance – asserting their dignity before the viewer.
