COM. ORBEASCA 172
/PART 3 OF 3/
This is the house where my mother spent her childhood summers. Alongside her brother and cousins, she would gather here each year when school finished, creating, without realising, some of her core memories. Nestled in a village not far from my hometown, it is a place I only visited for the first time a couple of years ago, despite its proximity. The reason is simple: the house is no longer lived in, its walls now silent witnesses to the past.
Maria, my next-door neighbour, has her own connection to our family through my mother’s side. For some time now, I’ve wanted to capture her in the place that holds so many of my mother’s fondest memories. This year, I finally had the chance. I set out to photograph the house, not as a mere structure, but as a living space — one that Maria could walk through, sit in, explore. It was important to me to document this space through portraits, bringing together both the house and the people it has touched.
If you're Romanian, I hope this project resonates with you, evoking memories of your own summer house in the countryside. Most of us have one, a place that stays with us long after we’ve moved cities, countries.
And if you're not Romanian, I hope this work offers a small window into a culture that may be different from your own. Perhaps you’ll notice a pattern, a chair, a piece of fabric, or the way light dances on a wall — details that will stay with you, sparking something familiar, something beautiful, in your own world.
Shot on a mix of digital and 35mm film, scanned by Jake.
Thank you
@mar1aaaa._23 for doing this project with me,
@glasbo_asbo and
@letitiaraducea for helping out as usual, and Pompi for hand-making the shoes for us.
#londonphotographer #romanian #documentaryphotography
