DAVIN ELLICSON: Maramures

Valeni, Maramures, Romania, 2003

Photograph (c) Davin Ellicson

Liviu and Ancuta. Breb, Maramures, Romania
Photograph (c) Davin Ellicson

Bruegel Winter Scene, Valeni, Maramures, Romania
Photograph (c) Davin Ellicson

Girls on their way home after church Sunday morning.

Valeni, Maramures, Romania. Photograph (c) Davin Ellicson

Teenage Girls on Easter Sunday. Valeni, Maramures, Romania
Photograph (c) Davin Ellicson

"Along a series of valleys in the remote Maramures region of Romania near the Ukraine border exists a few dozen villages of subsistence farmers who have preserved a way of life forgotten in the rest of the Europe more than a century ago." –Davin Ellicson

Davin Ellicson Website

KATHLEEN LARAIA MCLAUGHLIN: Transylvania Project

Watch Kathleen Laraia McLaughlin's KickStarter Video!
"The Color of Hay: The Peasants of Maramures"

Gheorghe, Mara, Maramures, 1999
Photograph (c) Kathleen Laraia McLaughlin

Maria, Sarbi, Maramures, 2003
Photograph (c) Kathleen Laraia McLaughlin

Northern Transylvania is the last bastion of subsistence peasant villages in Europe. It is an area so remote that the Romans never conquered them. Yet just two decades after the fall of communism, modernity is finally overcoming their centuries old traditions.

"In a single generation, the villages shown here have gone from illiterate poverty to cell phone towers. Kathleen Laraia McLaughlin's photographs capture both the traditions and the change of the first decade of the 21st century. Using a medium format camera with traditional film negatives, she pursues the mission of a documentary photographer by preserving a piece of fading history.

"Your contributions will allow us to make the final payment to the printer. Up to now, we have spent our money and the money of friends. This final amount will complete the long journey to publication."

Over 130 photos are displayed throughout 200 pages. Each image carries a caption, a location and a date. The book is organized into chapters on the seasons, the ceremonies, and the meaning of life. Throughout, there are essays, poems, proverbs, ghost stories and songs to add depth to the lives of these special villages." (...KickStarter Video)

Read The Interview with Aline Smithson on Lenscratch

JOAKIM ESKILDSEN: The Roma Journeys

Road to Mironu
Photograph (c) Joakim Eskildsen /All Rights Reserved

Venus and Mucusoara, Stefanesti
Photograph (c) Joakim Eskildsen /All Rights Reserved

Strada Eternitatii, Vlasca
Photograph (c) Joakim Eskildsen /All Rights Reserved

The Long Plaits, Tirnaveni
(c) Joakim Eskildsen /All Rights Reserved

Family in Szent Miklós, Haranglab
Photograph (c) Joakim Eskildsen /All Rights Reserved

Danish photographer, Joakim Eskildsen, traveled with writer, Cia Rinne, through the 7 Roma countries (Hungary, India, Greece, Romania, France, Russia, and Finland), photographing this project for seven years. Often staying with families for long periods in order to learn about their life, their culture, and their situation, The Roma Journeys is a very personal document of these encounters, giving a contemporary view of the lives of the Roma people and their situation today.

FotoSalon i Århus (Lecture), 27 February, 2010

The Roma Journeys/Le Romané Phirimàta