As I am

Out of a desire to meet new people, I started looking for stories in my city — more precisely, faces that express a fresh, progressive way of thinking, close to the values ​​I believe in. I believe that every person has a core of passion that guides their path, and in this project I try to discover and photograph precisely that personal detail that makes them unique. The photos are taken at their homes, in their intimate space, because I want to capture a piece of each person's character, an authentic slice of young urban life. After all, we are not just numbers — we are faces, ideas, gestures. And this project is my way of giving them visibility.

Cătălin Petcu

Hey, I'm Cătălin. Visual art has been a part of my life for a long time – I started drawing when I was little and have been finding new ways to express myself ever since. Participating in this photography project was a natural continuation of my passion. I love being in front of the camera, especially when it comes to portraits that capture the sincerity of a moment. It was a natural experience, where I could simply be myself.

Nicolae Gaburici

Nicolae Gaburici is an independent filmmaker and the founder of the cinephile space @salonfilmesque. His films explore reality through a poetic lens, reflecting a constant search for that “beyond” of art. He directed two artistic short films in Logănești, involving over 200 villagers from his native village. Both projects are currently in post-production.

Cristiana Capota

Alex-Gabriel Nechez

Hello! My name is Alex Nechez and I’m a photographer based in Bucharest. I’m using my camera as therapy and resistance. I am struggling with anxiety since childhood but I found photography early in my life and I am using it to process the world and connect with others. My work includes themes such as urban chaos, social injustice, and identity. Through both photojournalism and experimental images, I explore how vulnerability can become strength and how art can speak when words fail.

Fiona Afodorci

Hi there, I’m Fiona Afodorci and I’m a tattoo artist in Bucharest. Ever since I was little I’ve felt an innate pull toward drawing and consuming all sorts of arts as it made me feel less alone. I’m grateful to have grown to engage everyday in the craft I love and form genuine connections with beautiful individuals - hopefully I make their day a little bit better and help them express themselves. In the process I also find myself more and more. Im happy to be part of this candid project. I believe we’re all here for human connection and love, and to have a silly little absurd time along the way.

Irina Gache

HellO! I'm Irina Gache, a visual artist who focuses her art on bridging the darker aspects of life with that flickering light we tend to lose track of when things get tough. I feel my art is born from the depths of the unconscious, always guided by the power of archetypes. I started doing photography in 2012, and with time, I also got into painting, collages, art installations, and sculpting. I have a strong belief that creativity and expression through art represent the cure for destruction. In a world focused on war and conflict, art is the antidote: Creation - the birth of something new instead of annihilation.

Ana Maria Miclăuș

Andreea-Maria Miclăuș is a multidisciplinary artist at the intersection of collage, photography and reinvented clothing, where found fragments take on new meaning. She is drawn to the dialogue between aesthetics and criticism, between the discarded material and the poetic form of recovery. She proposes a visual reflection on identity and sustainability, achieved through unexpected associations and juxtapositions of content, as well as by combining the types of media or materials she works with.

Cristea Sava-Ștefan

Hey, I'm Sava. I am a model, stylist and amateur photographer on film. Since I was a child, I love art and fashion, which has now helped me get out of my comfort zone, which has led to the need to let go of anxiety and expression through the work I do and enjoy. In general, I like to be different both in the way I look and in leisure activities such as creating clothes and attending poetry evenings. In my opinion, the best thing anyone can do is reinvent themselves.

Alexandra Cojocaru

Hello! My name is Alexandra Cojocaru and I’m a doctor (geneticist) and an artist based in Bucharest. I started photographing in my third year of university, around the same time I began struggling with anxiety — so at first, it was a form of therapy. Over time, it became much more than that: a way to make sense of things, to slow down, to tell stories, and to share my dreams and thoughts. I also love collecting objects from flea markets, mostly old cameras, paintings, and odd little things, many of which end up in my photo sets or as decorations in my room.

Sabin Prodan

When I want to say something about myself, not many things come to mind that are outside of what I do. Much of who I am relates to what I’ve done in recent years, and over the past four years I’ve photographed a great deal of architecture and interior design. I also have interests in other areas—hobbies, sports; at one point I even wanted to learn to ride a unicycle and to juggle. My cat, Pickle, my apartment mate for the past eight years, can attest that although I rarely sit still, I don’t have enough time for all the things I set out to do.

Iulia Laméa Crișan

Laméa is a multidisciplinary artist whose work emerges from emotion, introspection, and transformation. Fashion saved her from the abyss, becoming a ritual of exorcising fear and pain. Writing is her vital breath, while painting helps her untangle the cognitive chaos caused by ADHD and brings her clarity. So far, she has directed two short films currently in post-production: the first explores bipolar disorder as a severe and chronic mental illness — not only through suffering but also through the visceral creative energy it generates, through the chaos and rebirth it brings. The second is a documentary-confession in which Laméa herself, in front of the camera, unveils a raw pain rooted in a childhood torn apart by patriarchal violence and institutional neglect. Her meltdown becomes an act of resistance: fragility turns into a weapon, and the inner child becomes the last anchor in a world determined to silence her. Inspired by her grandmother Ioana — a chemist and “witch fairy” of Roma ethnicity — Laméa transforms her vulnerability into a queer-feminist manifesto, reclaiming the right to exist, create, and be reborn from darkness.

Vlad Turtoi

To be born a lost child in a world of cruel honesty is its own kind of hell. Sometimes, it feels as though the body cannot bear the weight of the soul, as if the world itself buckles under the pain of the past. I often stand before the gates, wondering if I’ll ever smell the roses again. Pushing too hard would only shatter me, yet pulling it open feels like stealing. But searching for myself over the garden's walls was never an option. The garden is where I stood, where I remain.