28 August 2009

New project in progress: Bucharest 20 Years Later

Bucharest_Youth

Bucharest_Youth_3

Bucharest_Youth_2

Bucharest_Youth_4

Bucharest_Youth_7

Bucharest_Youth_6

Bucharest_Youth_8

Bucharest_Youth_9

Bucharest_Youth_10

Bucharest_Youth_11

Bucharest_Youth_12

Bucharest_Youth_13

Bucharest_Youth_16

Bucharest_Youth_17

I have begun shooting on the street here in Bucharest capturing the youth, the nouveaux riche and the fashions as the 20th Anniversary of the Romanian Revolution approaches. No one ever seems to capture the city in color, so I am going to try. The last five years have seen dramatic change as banks began to make loans and the entire population went on a shopping spree for the first time. Almost overnight BMWs and Mercedes flooded the streets, hip fashions appeared and cafes and restaurants opened everywhere. Yet Bucharest is still plagued with myriad problems such as one of the most corrupt governments in Europe, a crumbling infrastructure, an out-of-control stray dog problem and an obsession with consumer culture even though their continues to be no real middle class. It remains to be seen what will become of the city once known as 'The Paris of the East'.

06 August 2009

Back in Bucharest

Wedding_Italian

I'm back in the East after 10 days in the West. I was at a great wedding in London last weekend.

30 July 2009

In Italy along the Ligurian Coast

Monterosso

I've been in Italy the past few days. Here is a shot from the beach resort of Monterosso al Mare.

20 July 2009

A must read report: Romania 20 years after the Revolution

"Romania was more vulnerable than any other communist country to the myth of the west as material paradise, to mall culture and measurement of success by what kind of mobile phone you have. It's particularly strong here, perhaps because it all happened so suddenly, even to the educated classes. A lot of damage has been done, both to Romania and to the west, as we now see in this crisis: because the west began to believe some of our illusions about itself - in our false expectations of what it seemed to promise, back then in 1989. Which feels at once like another lifetime, but yesterday." --Cordruta Cruceanu, former curator at The National Gallery of Art, Bucharest.

Read the Observer article here.