A reflection on life's journey, the choices we make, the moments that define us, and the traces we leave long after we're gone.
WHERE IT ALL BEGAN I was born in Bucharest, the capital of Romania, just a few months after the fall of communism. I can say that I was fortunate enough to be part of the first generation of Romanians born into freedom, although that freedom came at a heavy price, paid in human lives. I spent my childhood, teenage years, and early adulthood entirely in my hometown. Immediately after finishing high school, I started working for different companies, across various fields. I also experienced university life for a while, but after just a year and a half, I decided to give it up. I didn't see myself in what I had chosen to study, and financial difficulties pushed me to look for a stable job. Caught between the responsibilities of adult life and financial struggles, I eventually found myself, perhaps driven by a misguided sense of ambition, attending a croupier training school at one of Bucharest's major casinos. After almost two years, I decided to leave the country. The profession I had chosen opened many doors for me, as it was in demand in many parts of the world. And so, in 2017, I became the first member of my family not only to leave home to work in another country, but also the first ever to travel beyond Romania's borders.
A WORLD OF EXPERIENCES So, in 2017, I arrived in England, in the small town of Margate, located on the country's east coast, from where I would move away fairly quickly. During my years there, I lived in three different towns, working for the same company. Of all of them, however, Bournemouth was the place I liked the most. Everything was new to me: the country, the people, the culture, the climate, and the experiences that this move away from home would bring. At the beginning of 2020, I arrived in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, where I was to live for two months, until the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Shortly afterwards, I decided to return to Romania, where I managed to find a job at one of Bucharest's casinos. I stayed there until almost the end of 2022. Then I decided to leave the country once again. An opportunity came along that offered me better financial prospects and the chance to learn a new language. This is how I ended up in a small village near the city of Leipzig, in Germany. Looking back, moving so frequently did not seem to bother me too much, perhaps also because I continued working in the same industry, the gambling industry. Unfortunately, Germany did not turn out to be what I had imagined. Towards the end of 2024, a new opportunity came along, one that also offered me the chance to take on a management position in an industry I had already been working in for many years. I therefore chose to move to Switzerland. That is how I ended up in Davos, a small Swiss town that hosts the World Economic Forum every January, becoming a meeting point for political leaders and business representatives from around the world. Looking back, I have gone from life in a capital city of the former Eastern Bloc to living close to the sea, then to experiencing a city with a rich history and distinctive architecture, such as Edinburgh, followed by a small German village and, finally, a mountain town in the heart of the Swiss Alps. At first, some things were interesting and enjoyable. Towards the end, however, everything turned into one of the most disappointing experiences of my life. The casino I had joined was going through numerous changes: a rebranding process, a move to a different location, and collective problems caused by all these transformations. Paradoxically, this was also the place where the spark for photography and creativity was ignited in me, a passion whose importance to my life I could not yet imagine.
A NEW PERSPECTIVE Ever since I left Romania, I had enjoyed taking photographs, offering different perspectives on the places I discovered, as well as sharing ideas about new destinations worth visiting. However, I had never seriously considered turning this passion into a profession. In 2025, however, I decided to take a step in that direction. After many days of research, I bought my first camera, a model somewhere between entry-level and intermediate: SONY a7 III. That was how a process began, one that most likely will never come to an end: continuously learning the art of photography and capturing the most unique frames, places, people, and emotions. At that point, photography was still just a hobby. I had not started practising it professionally, and I still had my job as a manager at the casino. However, as sometimes happens in life, not everything goes the way we would like it to. In the spring of 2026, after a period marked by significant changes at the casino where I worked, from the move to a new location to the rebranding process, I received the news that, for financial reasons, the Live Game department would be closing, and most of us working there would be made redundant. At that moment, I realised that perhaps I had the opportunity to leave the casino industry behind, after 11 years of uninterrupted work in the field. I decided to make the most of this moment and focus 100% on photography, dedicating my time to learning and developing this passion. I enrolled in a professional photography course, where I learned more about the profession, including techniques, methods, and different approaches to photography. The programme lasted almost four months and involved more than 300 hours of intensive training. Throughout that time, I practised constantly and tried to find my own style. Although I feel that I am still searching for my own photographic style, the truth is that I enjoy almost every form of photography. From nature and the beautiful landscapes it has to offer, to street photography, where you can capture unique and truly natural moments, and all the way to events where two souls pledge their love to each other forever.
A PERSONAL NOTE Looking back, I realise that every place I have lived, every experience I have been through, and every person I have encountered has shaped the way I see the world today. Perhaps that is why photography has become so much more than just taking pictures for me. It is a way of exploring, observing, connecting, and preserving moments that might otherwise fade with time. I don't believe every photograph needs to be perfect, nor do I think every moment can be planned. Sometimes, the most meaningful images are the ones captured unexpectedly, when everything simply falls into place. A passing expression, a quiet street, a breathtaking landscape, or a fleeting moment between two people can tell a story that words sometimes cannot. I am still learning, experimenting, and discovering my own way of seeing things. I don't know exactly where this journey will take me, but I know that I want to keep exploring it, one photograph at a time. And if there is one thing I hope my photographs will always do, it is to make someone stop for a moment, feel something, and perhaps see the world from a different perspective. Because, in the end, it is not just about the photographs we take, but about the moments we choose to keep. AN IMAGE THAT LASTS FOREVER.