Meeting the World

ROMANIA | Tuesday, 1 January 2013 | Views [248] | View Smaller Image

I took this photo in Durău, a town located at 780-800 m altitude in Neamţ County at the proximity of Ceahlău Massif. The location is disadvantaged because of the lack of accessibility since 2006 because the main route was closed due to landslides. Durău counts few inhabitants that are mainly devoted to agriculture and sheep-farming. There is also a beautiful orthodox monastery founded in the XVII century, where people from all the county go to celebrate the Easter mass. This old woman is 88 years old and still works at the farm taking care of animals. She was very kind and happy to receive some visitors. Although she didn't speak much, her eyes were very soulful. She lives with her son, a 70-year-old sheep-keeper, and his wife. Thanks to this and other encounters during the journey in Durău, I could experience the humility of a simple life lived in harmony with nature.

Tags: travel photography scholarship 2012

During the travel from Durău to Iaşi, the driver needed a break and so he stopped at Bicaz lake for half an hour. I decided to have a walk and see if I could meet someone in this place surrounded by high pines. I saw a carpenter and talked to him using the very few Romanian words that I learnt during my travel. It was a surprise when that middle-aged man replied to me in Italian. After a nice conversation I accepted to pay for a trip on the lake. However before going on board he explained me that, unfortunately, a big factory discharges the industrial waste into the lake. He called his friend who works as a taxi-boat driver for the local and there I met the young man that you see in the photo. After having faced the disappointing big amount of garbage, the young man invited me inside the cabin since I was freezing. Despite the difficult communication since he spoke only Romanian, he explained me that the boat is his only house. He opened the door behind him and showed me his tiny room with a little bed and few objects. He then told me that he doesn't want to leave the lake of Bicaz and that he is happy with his life.

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Moldavia is known as the most religious region of Romania because of the many monasteries and churches.
Sihastria Monastery in Neamt County is located in a natural beautiful landscape surrounded by forests. The monastery administrates several hermitages that are more and more visited by pilgrims and some tourists. It was a rainy day when I visited it and the wet tiles, the sound of the rain and the religious chants coming from the cemetery introduced me into a soft atmosphere.
However, the sight of clothes hanging out to dry in front of monks' houses reminded me of everyday life's necessities.

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Meeting the World

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