Fertile Lands

Fertile Lands

A journey through Balkans and Caucasus

There is no place like Home. There are places that feeds imagination and creative interest, attracting us like magnets. Would it be the perpetuation of traditional ways of life, through strong family values, the direct and simple relationship to Nature, strong social links or some kind of special resonance with our inner-self?

Fertile Lands is a visual exploration of transitioning territories. Besides socio-economical doctrines inherited from the East Block, Balkans and Causasus are sharing now a moment of all possibilities. When occident is questioning globalisation’s limits, extreme individualisation and raw capitalism, they share the possibility to invent an ideal future, questioning ounce more the human ability to build an utopia.

Kukès, Albania. 2014. Musicians during a traditional wedding.

Kukes. Albania. 2014

Nicula Monastery. Gherla, Romania. 2015. Pilgrims in front of 18th century traditional wooden church.

Borjomi region. Georgia.

On the road to Mount Kazbek. Georgia.

Maramures aera, Romania. 2015. Burial.

August 15th pilgrimage & celebrations, Nicula Monastery. Gherla, Romania. 2015. Nicula Monastery is an important pilgrimage center in the north of Transylvania. The church of the monastery housed over time the famous icon painted in 1681 by the artisan Luca of Iclod

Tslaka region. Georgia.

Saghamo. Georgia.

Burial celebration at the cemetery. Romania, Maramurès area. 2015 The mourning period for Eastern Orthodox Christians lasts for forty days. Within those forty days, the third day, the ninth day, and the fortieth day all have special significance. After forty days, memorials are celebrated at three months, six months, nine months, one year, and on the anniversary of the death for at least seven years.

On the road to Mount Kazbek. Georgia.

Kukes, Albania. 2013.

Poti. Georgia.

Kobuleti. Georgia.

Ureki. Georgia.

Batumi. Georgia.

Kobuleti. Georgia.

Saghamo. Georgia.

Ninotsminda region. Georgia.

Borjomi region. Georgia

Burial celebration at the cemetery. Romania, Maramurès area. 2015. The mourning period for Eastern Orthodox Christians lasts for forty days. Within those forty days, the third day, the ninth day, and the fortieth day all have special significance. After forty days, memorials are celebrated at three months, six months, nine months, one year, and on the anniversary of the death for at least seven years.

Borjomi region. Georgia.

Guca Festival, Serbia. 2014. Annual brass band festival. 600,000 visitors make their way to the town of 2,000 inhabitants every year, both from Serbia and abroad.

Istanbul, Turkey. 2015.

Guca Festival, Serbia. 2014. Annual brass band festival. Miles Davis said a Guča Festival visitor: “I didn't know you could play trumpet that way”.

Tbilisi. Georgia.

Kukes, Albania. 2014. Traditional wedding, waiting for the bride.

Visegrad, Bosnia y Herzgovina. 2014. In close proximity to the Serbian border, the town was strategically important during the conflict. A nearby hydroelectric dam provided electricity and also controlled the level of the River Drina, preventing flooding downstream areas.

Wooden church. Romania, Maramurès area. 2015. In Maramureș today almost 100 wooden churches still stand, about one third of their total two centuries ago. Besides the extant wooden churches, a major source of knowledge is still saved by a number of practicing senior carpenters with relevant knowledge and skills in traditional carpentry.

Merry Cemetary. Sapanta, Romania. 2015. Merry Cemetery is filled with more than 1,000 blue wooden crosses in Sapanta, Romania. These unique gravestones share the deceased’s story through detailed bright and colorful pictures. Stan Ion Patras is the original artist of these gravestones, but after he passed away, his apprentice Dumitru Pop Tincu took over. The pictures often show how the deceased died and the colors have special meanings.