These pictures might be candid street photography or maybe, even a look inside the daily life of a typical Bucharest neighborhood, but that was not my intention.
Making them was one of the few things I could do to keep myself alive in the wake of my best friend’s disappearance. He was one of the 64 people who died in the Colectiv nightclub fire in Bucharest on 30 October 2005.
In the aftermath of the incident, I found myself being one of the hundreds if not thousands of people deeply affected by this tragic loss of life. Like flicking a switch, I felt displaced into a darker and less joyless timeline, feeling erased and disconnected from myself.
While dealing with the pain, the only thing I could do to have some glimpses of self-awareness was to take pictures during the long walks I took with my dog as she explored our neighborhood.
Now, these pictures bring me joy and are whatever you might see.
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