Two from my “Bucharest 20 Years Later” project

I am currently editing the work I have been shooting in Bucharest since 2007 into a book. Here are two shots from my wide 1000 image edit.

New Vimeo page and Bucharest workshop promo

I now have a Vimeo page with Aga with a promo video for our series of Bucharest street photography workshops.

Bucharest: Exploring Your Vision

Bucharest: Exploring Your Vision

Join Davin Ellicson and Aga Luczakowska for an intensive street photography workshop in September 2010 in Bucharest, one of Europe’s least known capitals.

The city is a beguiling place which still suffers from outdated Communist-era stereotypes. Well off the tourist track, there is a raw energy to Bucharest that has to be experienced to be believed. Globalization has yet to run its course here and a curious blend of old and new Europe exists side by side.

The workshop is the only one of its kind to be currently offered in Bucharest. The pair will be working closely with participants and providing daily critiques . The goal is to perfect one’s street shooting skills and the art of spontaneous photography by exploring Bucharest as well as how to edit — select and sequence your photographs — intuitively. It’s a workshop open to amateurs and professionals alike.

Through group as well as one on one discussions of the best work, participants will see their picture making skills improve. Technical, theoretical and aesthetic issues will be discussed as attendees work towards honing their individual visions.

The workshop will begin with individual portfolio reviews and Davin and Aga will show their own photography as well as the work of classic masters. We will then discuss the principles of street photography before we head out to explore the streets of Bucharest.

On Sunday morning we will review saturday’s work as well as give a tutorial on the archiving and image manipulation software called Adobe Lightroom that we highly recommend.
The workshop is limited to 12 students.

DATES: 4-5, 18-19 and 25-26 September

WORKSHOP LOCATION: Our studio in central Bucharest.

WORKSHOP FEE: €250.

Accommodation, transportation, meals, and other expenses are not included.

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!

Bios:

Aga and Davin are freelance photographers based between Katowice, Poland and Bucharest, Romania.

Aga studied in the US with National Geographic photographer Gerd Ludwig and National Geographic photo editor David Griffin. Later, she studied with photographers Stanley Greene, Alex Majoli and Lorenzo Castore At Masterclass Focus on Monferrato in Tuscany.
Davin worked at National Geographic photographer Steve McCurry’s studio in New York and studied with photographers Eugene Richards, Ken Light, Constantine Manos, George Tice and Paul Lowe. In 2006 he completed an MA in documentary photography at The London College of Communication.

Aga has worked for Polish newspapers and magazines and her photographs have been published worldwide (Poland, Turkey, Germany, China, USA). She has won numerous awards including one from the Office for the City of Katowice, Poland, Newsweek Poland and National Geographic Magazine.

Davin has completed assignments for such publications as The International Herald Tribune, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Courrier Japon, Bloomberg News. His work has appeared in The New York Times and Der Spiegel and the book This Day of Change, among others. The recipient of the 2009 Portfolio Award at The Phodar Photography Biennial in Bulgaria, Davin has also won an honorable mention in Jen Bekman´s Hey! Hot Shot Contest in both 2008 and 2009. He has worked for various NGOs such as Leslie Hawke’s Ovidiu Rom in Bucharest and The International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX).

Check out Davin’s archive on Bucharest here.

Please contact us with any questions:

mail: luczakowskaellicson@gmail.com

phone: +40 754 928 306

Bucuresti: EXPLOREAZA-TI VIZIUNEA

Bucuresti: EXPLOREAZA-TI VIZIUNEA

Vino cu Davin Ellicson si Aga Luczakowska la un workshop intensiv de fotografie de strada in Bucuresti, Romania, una din cele mai putin cunoscute capitale ale Europei, intre 24-25 iulie 2010.

Acest oras este un loc inselator, care inca nu a depasit stereotipele invechite ale perioadei comuniste. Totusi, departe de obiectivele turistice, Bucurestiul are o energie bruta care trebuie traita pentru a fi inteleasa. Nefiind inca atins complet de globalizare, orasul ofera un amestec ciudat intre vechea si noua Europa la un loc.

Davin a fost atras si absorbit de Romania inca din 2002. Dupa ce a terminat facultatea, a plecat sa locuiasca la o familie de tarani dintr-un sat in Muntii Carpati ramas inca in secolul XVIII. In 2007, Davin a decis sa se mute in Bucuresti si de atunci a ramas sub vraja lui. Aga i s-a alaturat in 2010.

Cuplul va lucra indeaproape cu participantii la workshop, contribuind cu critica si discutii de grup in fiecare zi. Scopul workshopului este sa perfectioneze metoda de fotografiere stradala si manuirea artei fotografiei spontane explorand Bucurestiul. Participantii vor invata si cum sa editeze – sa selecteze si sa organizeze fotografiile – intuitiv. Workshop-ul este deschis atat amatorilor cat si profesionistilor.

Participantii isi vor vedea fotografiile imbunatatindu-se, prin discutii de grup sau individuale asupra lucrarilor lor. Vor fi dezbatute probleme ce tin de tehnica, de teorie sau de estetica, astfel incat cei prezenti se apropie cat mai mult de viziunea personala.

Workshop-ul va incepe cu comentarea portofoliilor individuale. Davind si Aga vor prezenta atat fotografiile lor cat si cele ale unor maestri clasici.

Limita workshop-ului este de 12 studenti si se va tine in LIMBA ENGLEZA.

TAXA DE APRTICIPARE: €200.

Pentru mai multe detalii acceseaza link-ul urmator:

Davin’s website
Aga’s website

luczakowskaellicson@gmail.com
phone: +40 754 928 306

New website under construction

My new Photofolio website is finally under construction. Please check back frequently as I finish the galleries.

New Work in Anzenberger Archive

Check it out here.

New Work in Art Magazine, Germany

In May I covered the Bucharest Biennale for Art Magazine from Hamburg.

Bucharest Street Photography Workshop

Bucharest: Exploring Your Vision

Join Davin and Aga Luczakowska for an intensive street photography workshop in Bucharest, Romania, 24-25 July 2010, one of Europe’s least known capitals.

The city is a beguiling place which still suffers from outdated Communist-era stereotypes. Well off the tourist track, there is a raw energy to Bucharest that has to be experienced to be believed. Globalization has yet to run its course here and a curious blend of old and new Europe exists side by side.

Bucharest suffered the worst of the former Eastern Bloc Communist regimes under dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. By 1989, Romania was a police state akin to North Korea with the feared Securitate (secret police) waging a war of psychological oppression against ordinary Romanians. Bucharest and its citizens emerged from Communism dramatically changed. The once elegant city had been stripped of its beauty and its citizens severely traumatized. But two decades since Ceausescu’s overthrow, Bucharest is finally poised for revitalization.

Although economic progress was slow in the 1990s, the last five years have seen nothing less than astounding change as banks began to make loans and the entire population went on a shopping spree for the first time. Today, the citiy is full of sharp contrasts. While the scars of Ceausescu are still visible, the city is forging a new identity. Some of the trendiest fashions and nightlife outside Moscow exist against a backdrop of spectacular urban decay and it remains to be seen what will become of the city known between The World Wars as “The Paris of the East”.

Since 2000, Davin has been transfixed by Romania. Immediately after finishing college he even went and lived for a year with peasants in a village in the Carpathian mountains lost somewhere in the 18th century. In 2007 Davin decided to base himself from Bucharest and has since fallen under its dark spell. In 2010 Aga joined him.

This is the first photo workshop of its kind ever to be held in Bucharest.

The pair will be working closely with workshop participants and providing daily critiques and group discussions. The goal of this workshop is to perfect one’s street shooting skills and the art of spontaneous photography by exploring Bucharest as well as how to edit – select and sequence your photographs — intuitively. It’s a workshop open to amateurs and professionals alike. We will shoot during the day and edit in the evenings. Through group as well as one on one discussions of the best work, participants will see their picture making skills improve each day. Technical, theoretical and aesthetic issues will be discussed as attendees work towards honing their individual visions.

The workshop will begin with individual portfolio reviews and an expert tour of the historic center as well as lectures about Bucharest and its architecture by Romanian historian Valentin Mandache. Romanian reportage photographers will also join us, presenting and discussing their work and their own experiences of Bucharest. Davin and Aga will show their own photography as well as the work of classic masters.

The workshop is limited to 12 students.

WORKSHOP LOCATION: Café Verona at Carturesti

WORKSHOP FEE: €300.

Accommodation, transportation, meals, and other expenses are not included.

ACCOMMODATION: €15/night La Historia youth hostel
Hotel suggestions are available upon request.

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!

PAYMENT: A non-refundable deposit of €100 is payable on confirmation of a place. The balance is due 4 weeks before the commencement of the workshop.

*Please check if you need a visa

Helpful links:

Bucharest In Your Pocket

Bucharest Life

Bios:

Aga and Davin are freelance photographers based between Katowice, Poland and Bucharest, Romania.

Aga studied in the US with National Geographic photographer Gerd Ludwig and National Geographic photo editor David Griffin. Later, she studied with photographers Stanley Greene, Alex Majoli and Lorenzo Castore At Masterclass Focus on Monferrato in Tuscany.
Davin worked at National Geographic photographer Steve McCurry’s studio in New York and studied with photographers Eugene Richards, Ken Light, Constantine Manos, George Tice and Paul Lowe. In 2006 he completed an MA in documentary photography at The London College of Communication.

Aga has worked for Polish newspapers and magazines and her photographs have been published worldwide (Poland, Turkey, Germany, China, USA). She has won numerous awards including one from the Office for the City of Katowice, Poland, Newsweek Poland and National Geographic Magazine.

Davin has completed assignments for such publications as The International Herald Tribune, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Courrier Japon, Bloomberg News. His work has appeared in The New York Times and Der Spiegel and the book This Day of Change, among others. The recipient of the 2009 Portfolio Award at The Phodar Photography Biennial in Bulgaria, Davin has also won an honorable mention in Jen Bekman´s Hey! Hot Shot Contest in both 2008 and 2009. He has worked for various NGOs such as Leslie Hawke’s Ovidiu Rom in Bucharest and The International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX).

Check out Davin’s archive on Bucharest here.

Please contact us with any questions:

mail: luczakowskaellicson@gmail.com

phone: +40 754 928 306

Representation by Karousel Gallery in Bucharest

I now have collector’s prints shot in Maramures available at Karousel Gallery, Romania’s only gallery exclusively devoted to photography.

Bucharest fashion in the snow

Bucharest is snowy this winter.

An Honorable Mention in Jen Bekman’s Hey, Hot Shot! Contest

I just learned I am an honorable mention in this great contest for a series of pictures from my Bucharest 20 Years Later work. Read about it here. The three images and text below are what I submitted for review.

Project Statement:

Since 2000 I have been transfixed by the Eastern European country of Romania. Immediately after finishing college I even went and lived for a year with peasants in a village in the Carpathian mountains lost somewhere in the 18th century. Today, I work from the capital Bucharest and in this 20th anniversary year of The Fall of Communism and The Romanian Revolution I am attempting to capture aspects of the current state of this city that suffered the worst of the former Eastern Bloc Communist regimes under dictator Nicolae Ceausescu.

By 1989, Romania was a police state akin to North Korea with the feared Securitate (secret police) waging a war of psychological oppression against ordinary Romanians. Ceausescu starved his own people and, at the end, shops were empty and electricity and heat intermittent. While economic progress was slow in the 1990s, the last five years have seen nothing less than astounding change as banks began to make loans and the entire population went on a shopping spree for the first time. Almost overnight top of the range BMWs and Mercedes flooded the streets, hip fashions appeared and trendy cafes and restaurants opened everywhere. Yet Bucharest is still plagued with myriad problems. The society has never fully confronted its past and former Securitate continue to operate within the government. Romania is famous for its fatalism having suffered centuries of foreign domination long before its 40 years of totalitarian rule, and today the majority of the population seems to have accepted the rampant corruption.

Through photographing the fashions and trendy new life along with remnants of the Communist regime I am seeking to translate the enigma of Bucharest. The reportage is less a photojournalistic documentary but what one foreigner seeks to find in Bucharest 20 years later. It remains to be seen what will become of the city once known between The World Wars as ‘The Paris of the East’.

Bucharest 20 Years later

I am constantly adding to my Bucharest 20 Years archive. 220 images are there right now.

Interesting articles on Romania 20 Years Later

Check out this one about Herta Müller from The Guardian and also this overview of the situation in Romania from The Huffington Post as the country faces a heated presidential election 20 years after the Revolution.

Reality tempers joy of Romania’s 1989

Nouveaux riche at the expensive Balthazar restaurant in Bucharest, 14 November 2009.

Listen to this damning NPR report about the corruption in Romania 20 Years after The Revolution here and read a Guardian article about it here.

Back in Bucharest

I just got back from a nice weekend in Poland. I am continuing my ‘Bucharest: 20 Years Later’ Project and am photographing luxury cafes, bars and restaurants, shopping malls, luxury stores and luxury apartments this week.