About this project
With just 5 days to go I could use all the support I can get, no matter how small! Many, many thanks!
Surrounded by a fortress of mountains and never collectivized by Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, the Maramures region of northern Romania has preserved folk culture in a state of almost medieval isolation. Until recently, villagers had not been molded by materialism or Western ways. A critical turning point was reached however with Romania’s accession to the European Union in 2007. Youth are choosing money over preserving their traditions and a mass exodus has resulted from the villages to Western Europe.
I began photographing in the village of Valeni in 2002 at a time when centuries old rural life was still magically intact. The streets were full of horse drawn carts, houses were without running water and mobile phones and the internet non-existent.
I now want to finish my project by photographing village youth upon their return from working abroad. Modernity is mixing with 18th century village life in unusual ways. A second part of my project will be to digitize historical photographs of traditional peasant life and rescue them from almost certain obscurity. These found images along with my reportage work will be combined with my earlier photography to form a comprehensive visual document of European rural life in a state of massive transition. By illuminating traditional European folk culture on the brink of extinction, my project engages with pivotal issues of our time and seeks to draw attention to a rich cultural heritage that globalization threatens.
The completed work will form my Maramures book project. Funds will be used for travel to Maramures, living expenses, the production of the photography and the design and layout of the book.
Please check out some of the previous work here:
http://www.davinellicson.com/#/Romania/Maramures%20/1/thumbs
and the archive here:
FAQ
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9
Backers
$460
pledged of $3,000 goal
0
seconds to go
Funding Unsuccessful
This project reached the deadline without achieving its funding goal on May 14, 2011.
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Receive a thank you on the support page for the project + exclusive updates on the project.
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Receive a personal hand written thank you on a 4x6 print postcard + exclusive updates on the project.
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Receive a personal hand written thank you on a 5x7 print postcard, a CD of folk music from the Maramures region + exclusive updates on the project.
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Receive one 8x10 print from the project + exclusive updates on the project.
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Receive one 11x14 print from the project on matte paper, a half liter of homemade 110 proof plum brandy from Valeni + exclusive updates on the project.
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Receive one 11x14 signed print of your choice from the project on archival baryta paper, one liter of homemade 110 proof plum brandy from Valeni + exclusive updates on the project.
Pledge $750 or more Pledge $750 or more
Receive one 13x19 signed print of your choice from the project on archival baryta paper, two liters of homemade 110 proof plum brandy from Valeni + a hand woven peasant tote bag and exclusive updates on the project.
Project By
Connected as Davin Ellicson (1432 friends)
Davin is a freelance photographer based in Bucharest, Romania.
Since 2000 Davin has been transfixed by the Eastern European country of 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. The photographs from this period became his first major project: Maramures. Today, Davin works between New York and Bucharest, a beguiling little known EU capital that is in the midst of dramatic change and cultural regeneration after Ceausescu. An ongoing series on the city comprises his next book project.
Davin's work has appeared in such publications as Der Spiegel, The New York Times, ART and The Chronicle of Higher Education. He has worked with the NGO's Ovidiu Rom and IREX. Ellicson's photography projects have been exhibited worldwide including at The Phodar Photography Biennial in Bulgaria, The Takashimaya Department Store in Tokyo, Japan and at The East West Gallery in Vienna, Austria. Awards and honors include two honorable mentions in Jen Bekman's Hey, Hot Shot! contest, the portfolio award at The 2009 Phodar Photography Biennial and a Larson Fellowship from Carleton College to photograph Saami Reindeer Herders.
Davin is represented by the Anzenberger Agency in Vienna, Austria.
2006 M.A. Photojournalism and Documentary Photography, London College of
Communication, London
2001 B.A. in Modern European History, Carleton College, Northfield, Minnesota
