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davinellicson · 1 year

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Join American photographer Davin Ellicson in the Maramures region of northern Romania 12-19 April 2023 for a week of enchantment during Orthodox Easter in one of the most traditional villages left in Europe.

For decades Romania’s closed border policy under the dictatorship of Nicolae Ceausescu as well as a natural fortress of mountains kept Maramures isolated from the rest of Europe. Even after the fall of communism change was slow to enter the region. The area is renowned for the strength of its traditions, folk costumes, idyllic landscape and is considered the heart of Romanian culture. In 2007 Romania joined the European Union and Maramures is at last changing. Come savor this rural life before it vanishes forever!

Davin is offering a seven day documentary photography workshop based in the village of Valeni where he lived for a year with a family and fell under Romania's dark spell. It is the subject of his first book coming out in 2023, designed by Dutchman Sybren Kuiper and Davin will explore his book making process for those interested. In his eighth workshop in the village, he will be sharing his passion for Romania with students. We will explore neighboring villages during Orthodox Easter week as well as attend three days of Easter ceremonies culminating with Easter Sunday on 16 April.

Davin will be working closely with workshop participants and providing daily critiques and group discussions. We will begin with a review of participants' past work. The goal of this workshop is to learn to create strong personal photographs about summer peasant life. We will shoot during the day and edit in the evenings. It’s a workshop open to amateurs and professionals alike. Technical, theoretical and aesthetic issues will be discussed as attendees work towards honing their individual visions.

Everyone will enjoy great access and homestays will allow for an immersive experience with local villagers and the opportunity to sample distinctive traditional Romanian food and 110 proof homemade plum brandy. It will be an opportunity to witness the last peasants in Europe living life as they have for millennia albeit with a few aspects of modern life mixed in! The week promises to be an intense, intimate and unforgettable experience where students will get to know the villagers first hand and live a romantic way of life forgotten in the rest of Europe more than a century ago.

It is an all digital workshop limited to 6 students and everyone should come with their own laptop and editing software. Knowledge of your digital SLR or rangefinder and workflow is essential.

DATES: 12-19 April 2023.

WORKSHOP LOCATION: Valeni, Maramures, Romania Homestays and all meals are included. Participants are responsible for their own transportation to Romania and up to Maramures although the option is available on a first come first served basis for three students to accompany Davin from Bucharest and back by SUV for an additional cost which includes food and accommodation one night each way in a restored Saxon house in Transylvania. A few airlines now fly from western Europe to the cities of Bucharest, Cluj and Satu Mare from where there are daily trains to the city of Baia Mare in Maramures.

REGISTRATION: The workshop is open to any professional or committed amateur who has knowledge of digital cameras and editing software. Participants must come with their own camera, laptop and editing software. All ages welcome!

PRICE: 995 euros.

Add 200 euros for round trip transport from Bucharest to Maramures with Davin by SUV including food and accommodation one night each way in a restored Saxon house in Transylvania. Limited to three participants.

For booking please contact Davin at: [email protected]

ABOUT: Photographer Davin Ellicson, American, born 1978, works from Bucharest, Romania. His first major project was "Țăran" about the period during which he lived and farmed with a peasant family in the remote Maramures region of northern Romania. Davin went for a year without running water, drinking milk straight from the cow while photographing Romanians' fidelity to the earth and folk traditions that he knew were about to vanish. It is the subject of his first book coming out in 2023, designed by Dutchman Sybren Kuiper and with a text by Romanian/American writer and poet Andrei Codrescu. A psychological portrait of the city of Bucharest comprises the second part of Davin's trilogy of photographic works about Romania. Currently, he is working on the final volume, “The Dacia Project”, a retrospective journey around the country by car in both a 2002 Dacia 1310 (a rebadged 1970s Renault 12 and a symbol of Ceausescu's Romania) as well as Dacia's latest 4x4 SUV, the Duster. Davin's work has appeared in The New York Times, Le Monde M, The Guardian and The Official Ferrari Magazine among others. Awards include two grants from The Romanian Cultural Institute in Bucharest.

#romania #maramures #eastern europe #transylvania #photo workshop #photo workshops #davin ellicson #easter #orthodox easter #photoworkshop #photography #documentary photography #reportage

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robpoolephotos · 6 years

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This month we have yet another member of the inimitable AllFormat Collective. Ioana Marinca. Ioana is an analogue photographer who’s touching documentary work made me hunt her down on Instagram and she kindly agreed to an interview.

RP: Hi Ioana, (or is it Transilvirish?), thanks for agreeing to talk to us to start please tell us a bit about yourself.

Thank you very much for having me Robert! I should probably clarify the name first. Yes it’s Ioana [Yoanna], born in Transylvania and moved to the Republic of Ireland with my parents where I finished my education. I sound a little Irish now, so when a friend suggested the name I thought it was fitting.

RP: what inspired you to become a photographer?

I’ve been thinking a lot about this recently. I remember as a schoolgirl having notebooks with drawings, you’d pass them around your group of friends for them to leave their mark, we called them memory notebooks (caiet de amintiri). Around the same time my dad suggested I keep a diary, but although I tried it I was never a huge fan of writing. So when Dad bought the first family camera for the family, I sort of took control and have been shooting ever since. It’s my way of keeping a diary.

RP: you are the second member of All Format Collective to be interviewed (the other being Nick Mayo), how did you get involved with them and how has it helped your photography?

Honoured to follow Nick, he’s a great guy! Actually it’s all by chance, but the AllFormat group have been my inspiration to shoot film. Met James (@go_jmo) in London and we couldn’t stop talking photography, music, books, etc. I was shooting digital at the time, but was spurred on to try film and seem to have found my direction since. I call it the snowball effect: shooting film made me question more, think more, learn a lot more which then led to joining a darkroom collective (The Gate at Thames-side Studios), a group exhibition with them and more recently joining AllFormat.

RP: Can you tell us more about The Gate Darkroom?

The Gate are a non-profit studio offering memberships or seasonal use of their black & white darkroom facilities and also run workshops. They moved near the Thames barrier last year which is when I joined them. The site itself is beautiful – there’s the Iris shipwreck and an old plastic factory nearby and lots of other studios on site, it feels like an oasis of calm away from London. The members I’ve met so far are fantastic and have a wide range of photography skills. We have an upcoming open studio weekend on 9-10 June, anyone in London interested in analog photography should come say hello!

RP: You have some great projects on your website, I was particularly touched by “Francis”, how did this come about?

Thank you very much. Francis is a very interesting character, he will turn 105 in July which I still can’t get over. A friend I’ve known since kindergarten moved to London with his wife and lived with Francis for a few years. When I first met Francis, he was still very much independent. His physical strength has since deteriorated but his mind is miles sharper than mine. He was born in 1913 in Hungary so just imagine the stories he has. Another photographer friend tried to take his portrait but apparently Francis wasn’t in a great mood that day. I’m delighted he allowed me that afternoon. Francis was an amateur conductor and insisted to be photographed with his baton. He’s written a book but think it’s un-published, I really need to find the copy I was given.

RP: Can you share with us what you’re working on at the moment?

Sure, I’ve got a couple of digital projects I need to wrap up but on the analog front I’m selecting work for the upcoming AllFormat zine issue 3. Also planning a solo zine with the work I’ve shot over the last two years – the current title I have is Thinking of Home. Having lived in three different countries (and fallen in love with a fourth, New Zealand) they’ve all contributed to who I am as a person and as a photographer. When I say ‘I’m going home’ the next question was often ‘which one? Where do you feel at home?’ and the honest answer is many different places. Sometimes a stranger can, in a few seconds, make you feel like you’ve known them for years.

RP: What/who inspires your photography?

As a general rule, people inspire me. The list of photographers who have influenced my style is ever-growing, but apart from the AllFormat team (they’ve been huge influences!) a good summary is Christopher Anderson, Rena Effendi, Davin Ellicson, David Goldblatt, Graciela Magnoni, Anthony Suau and Vanessa Winship. I’ve finally discovered Susan Lipper too (took me a while) and am lucky to have a copy of Grapevine, think it’s my favourite photo book.

RP: What does photography mean to you?

Everything! When I’m not in the office or asleep, I do or think of little else other than photography. But for me, photography also means the intellectual discussion you can have with someone on the topic, analysing and learning from photo books and keeping an open mind about what photography is. Someone else’s particular style may not be to my taste now, but could easily influence my future work if there’s meaning behind it.

RP: What cameras/lenses/films do you shoot with and why?

Depends on the day. My favourite is the Leica M6 + 35mm Summicron combination. Kit (from AllFormat) very kindly lent me a zoom lens (80-200) for my Nikon FM2 and I can’t wait to try it out. Never got this close in street, but I love what both Kit and Shane Taylor (@heroesforsale) do with their close-ups. Or closer still, Christopher Anderson’s recent pictures from China – a book due out later this year. I also have a Mamiya RZ67 but I’ve only taken one good picture with it so far. In terms of film, primarily HP5. I’ve recently played with some colour film too, will see if any good ones.

RP: what’s your main reason for shooting film?

I love that it’s slowed me down. Working in the City means I’ve been multitasking for 11 years and it started influencing my behaviour outside the office. In conversations I’d constantly jump from a topic to another, interrupting people, or even simple tasks at home: at any point in time I’d start five separate things and get distracted by the sixth. Film and developing it at home has slowed me down, you can’t rush the chemicals! I also question why I press the shutter more, because there’s a direct cost to that exposure, more than you would feel with digital. So I’d better have a good reason for making that exposure.

RP: Any anecdotes you can share from your time as a photographer?

Always be 100% certain there’s film in your camera. I shot what felt like a good roll until I got to the 37th, 38th, 39th exposure and thought “wait a minute…”.

RP: What are you looking for in a photo?

Meaning, a story, a reason. Whether the picture is part of a series of carefully sequenced single images, a story on a particular topic or an investigation spanning years – as long as there is thought behind the picture, it will be great.

RP: Biggest regret relating to photography?

Most recent one is letting a young woman with pink hair and matching pink jacket get away before I had asked her for a portrait. But whether photography related or otherwise I don’t really have big regrets.

RP: Any closing comments?

Thank you very much for having me, you’ve got a great collection of photographers on here.

www.ioanamarinca.com

www.allformatcollective.com

www.thegatedarkroom.co.uk – open studio 9/10 June

In Conversation with Ioana Marinca @ioanamarinca of #allformatcollective and @thegatedarkroom #believeinfilm #shootfilmbenice #filmphotography #filmisnotdead #35mm #analog #filmcamera #analogphotography #staybrokeshootfilm This month we have yet another member of the inimitable AllFormat Collective. Ioana Marinca. Ioana is an analogue photographer who's touching documentary work made me hunt her down on Instagram and she kindly agreed to an interview.

#documentary #film #Magazine #mono #photography #photojournalism #Portrait #retro #Street #Tips #travel #tricks

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