I was born and raised in Bucharest, Romania. I graduated architectural studies in 2003, at the University of Architecture in Bucharest. I am a Ph-D Lecturer at UAUIM, starting with 2003, when I also started practicing photography. In the following years I’ve found myself more and more involved in urban and street photography, mainly on film. As I gained visibility with my visual approach, I responded positively in giving lectures and presentations on street photography theory and philosophy.
In 2007-2008 I was invited by the Romanian Cultural Institute (ICR) to have four exhibitions in Berlin, Lisbon, Toulouse and Padua, having as subject a visual poetic parallel between Paris and Bucharest. Since then I was present in numerous personal and group exhibitions each year, usually having an urban, street or architectural theme (Bucharest, Dublin, Dubai, Rome).
In 2010 I have graduated my Ph-D studies at UAUIM, with the subject “Photography as a methodical investigation tool of the urban image”, an appreciated and innovative work in the urban domain. In 2012 I have published a book with the result of my research. Since 2010, I also teach the photography class in UAUIM.
I contributed with more than 15 monthly articles on street photography in the Romanian edition of Photo-Video revue (Vogel-Burda, 2011-2013).
I coordinate numerous photography workshops and master-classes.
I won a prize in the international competition of urban CBRE “Urban Photographer Photo of the Year”, 2011. I am winner of the “Low light” category of the Sony World Photo Contest, 2014.
I was included in the “Forbes Heroes” gallery by Forbes Romania, in 2016.
I do believe in photography as a tool in growing the knowledge about the surrounding world and raising the self-awareness and self-consciousness. By gaining conscience on own perception about Space, Time, Light and Emotion, one can use these ingredients in a very personal and poetic way of self expression. Without a deep understanding of the world, of one’s own person, without the involvement of a personal development, of emotional intelligence, without the science of making a visual discourse, without the ability to communicate a message, valuable photography cannot exist.
Being where one needs to be, doing the right thing, seeking to unveil what is still hidden, is the real challenge that street photography brings in. Street photography is dynamic, vivid and is testing photographer’s abilities in beautiful ways. It is among the few genres that achieve with equal precision the concomitant disclosure of two worlds – the one inside the photographer, at his meeting with the other one on the outside, on the street. The revealing takes place on both sides of the camera.
Through photography, vibration conducts to spontaneous reaction. The ingredients of the surrounding space are spread out in layers, while the photographer is trying to find out moments of perfect balance in a seemingly chaotic world. This is how he can reveal his ability to become a careful Observer, to understand more, to become invisible, ubiquitous, to shut down the echoes of his thoughts and to let the subconscious become an unexpected guide. Achieving the “moment of grace” becomes the goal of permanent search and transformation. Becoming friend with the unpredictable, with the synchronicities of the layers of reality, by spontaneous reaction, the photographer can transform the apparent occurrence into something expected, not at all surprising.
Through sustained involvement, a real “urban immersion” can take place. Then, the Emotion can take tangible, visual-storytelling forms.
