Romanian Excursion 2
17th July 2018
A few images taken with a digital compact camera of a holiday to Romania. We visit a number of places including the harbour town of Braila and the university city of Iasi.
This was my third visit and each time I become ever engaged not by the architecture and indeed ruinous architecture but also by the walls of peeling paint and peeling posters. It is here I find the abstractions that I enjoy photographing the most. Over the last twenty five years I have spent many hours seeking out such abstract works. In this time the amount of photographs taken with my 5x4inch camera must be somewhere in the 400 region with half of those visually unsuccessful. With this in mind I will, with my next visit to Romania, be taking a large format film camera with me and taken my time, breathing, easing into my photographic mind and blocking out all the hustle and bustle around me. I do not find easy photographing with prying eyes. I am also somewhat nervous being in a country where I not only do not speak the language but also where there is open poverty. It is something of a luxury to photograph with a large format camera worth over a thousand pounds, each sheet of film costing £2. It doesn't sit comfortable with me but nonetheless, this is what I do, indeed need to do.
The images here were taken with a small digital camera with manual control. They were originally in colour but changed to black and white and the contrast also heightened. They were often somewhat hurried mainly because my family sometimes get a little impatient (indeed embarrassed) with me for going from one wall to the next whilst around me can be wonderful fountains or decadent monasteries (why would I focus my camera on decay and do not show this country in its best light - it is after all a beautiful and fascinating country). My next visit will be interesting and of course I will need to be a little more selective. Carrying a digital camera around with me all day compared to the 10KG's of camera and tripod equipment is somewhat simpler. I will need to set my standards high but my quantities low. There will be, as in all aspects of photography, compromises and lost-shots. The list of regrets, of laziness, of technical errors follow me like a discontented cloud. They do not fade much either with time. Sometimes it takes a great effort but in the case of these fascinating walls in Romania I believe this effort will be well worth the rewards.
This was my third visit and each time I become ever engaged not by the architecture and indeed ruinous architecture but also by the walls of peeling paint and peeling posters. It is here I find the abstractions that I enjoy photographing the most. Over the last twenty five years I have spent many hours seeking out such abstract works. In this time the amount of photographs taken with my 5x4inch camera must be somewhere in the 400 region with half of those visually unsuccessful. With this in mind I will, with my next visit to Romania, be taking a large format film camera with me and taken my time, breathing, easing into my photographic mind and blocking out all the hustle and bustle around me. I do not find easy photographing with prying eyes. I am also somewhat nervous being in a country where I not only do not speak the language but also where there is open poverty. It is something of a luxury to photograph with a large format camera worth over a thousand pounds, each sheet of film costing £2. It doesn't sit comfortable with me but nonetheless, this is what I do, indeed need to do.
The images here were taken with a small digital camera with manual control. They were originally in colour but changed to black and white and the contrast also heightened. They were often somewhat hurried mainly because my family sometimes get a little impatient (indeed embarrassed) with me for going from one wall to the next whilst around me can be wonderful fountains or decadent monasteries (why would I focus my camera on decay and do not show this country in its best light - it is after all a beautiful and fascinating country). My next visit will be interesting and of course I will need to be a little more selective. Carrying a digital camera around with me all day compared to the 10KG's of camera and tripod equipment is somewhat simpler. I will need to set my standards high but my quantities low. There will be, as in all aspects of photography, compromises and lost-shots. The list of regrets, of laziness, of technical errors follow me like a discontented cloud. They do not fade much either with time. Sometimes it takes a great effort but in the case of these fascinating walls in Romania I believe this effort will be well worth the rewards.