Year: 2012

Stories from the English Passage

Răzvan found this intriguing place named the English Passage located next to the city center of Bucharest, near Calea Victoriei: all of us, including myself passed in front of it many times. I even think I may have passed trough it once, but noticing only a small part.

The first thing that captured my attention was the sign of an old-fashioned hat maker who’s owner has the same name as me, next to a small music store as those you can see in the ’80s movies and a watch repair shop. In a corner on the floor you can see a blanket and a couple of books, probably the resting place of an enlightened homeless person.

english passage

In line with the other stores there is a small pub, where we meet a local celebrity, probably the most famous person in the block: he is a painter, a legit one – later we saw some of his works on the walls of a restaurant in the next street. He had some beers already, which made him be in a good mood for talks and stories. Wile there, a huckster entered, he was selling socks. Our painter asked if they are “3/4” or just normal, the huckster sowed some, the painter bought a few. Later he looked more carefully at them “Those are not 3/4, I got shafted”.

english passage

The passage is in fact an inner court, with apartments on all sides and 3 more levels above the ground. On the top is a roof made from colored glass, letting in an unusual light. The doors are a varied mix: some old, some new, some abandoned.

english passage

At the upper level some hooks were hanging from the roof, they were totally spooky and made us wonder about their purpose, imagining various scenarios. But they were simply for opening the windows on the roof.

english passage

When wandering to the stairs, one of the characters we meet was crazy person-type woman (she looked pretty much like a homeless person, but she had a home there) who tried to scare us away, telling is forbidden to wander on the stairs. She went even to pretend calling the police, she went back to her door and talked loudly (so he can hear) like she would have talked with a policeman at the phone, complaining about strangers. Later we learned: the place was used in the past as a location for a few movies, so the woman just wanted some money to shut-up.
Another interesting person was an old lady, she lived in the building for over 50 years and is very sad for its’ current state, after the past glory: built by an anglophile, it was unique in the city, then a refuge for nobility in the early communist days, now is partly abandoned with some rooms abusively taken by gypsies/homeless people.

english passage

I don’t ever try to guess the origins of the lips signs I saw in various places of the stairs walls

english passage

If the story needed a finale, when we left a luxury car was parked on Calea Victoriei, in front of the passage entrance and next to a pile of garbage. This is Bucharest, the next building is a fancy hotel, the other side of the street has sky scrappers.

english passage

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.


Creepier

You thought Halloween is supposed to be creepy? Here’s a creepier experiment: take the pumpkin you carved for Halloween as a Jack’o lantern and let it transform by itself for a few days.

carved pumpkin

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.


A walk in the forest

The forest is beautiful in the autumn, its roads are covered in warmly colored fallen leaves. A delightful place for a walk.

walk in the forest

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.


On the ladder

When on a ladder the normal thing to do is to climb it to the top. Hopefully, having fun while doing it.

ladder

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.


Golden Girl

The golden girl is playing into the sunset of a warm autumn day.

golden girl

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.


Calendar 2013

As a joint project with Carmen, we made a desk calendar for 2013, it features photos from both of us put in some random order (you’ll have to guess who is the author for each).

calendar 2013
The printed version is a premium item, being hand-signed by each of us and is not for sale, but those who like it, can have a copy (sorry for linking this way, is a big ZIP file containing a bunch of high-quality PDFs).
And since a fellow photographer asked for this, I’am also making available my calendar design, as an archive of blank PDFs, with no pictures and no names, ready to receive photos and names. It is made at the size required the the printing shop we used: 220 x 100 mm with 2 mm bleeds at the edges.

Update: here’s a tutorial for making your own Inkscape calendar layout design

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.


Trolling the fuckers

This is some awesome trolling that happened at Nijikon 2012, someone posted a piece of paper on the wall with the text “if you fuck university/school, sign here” and a few kids took the bait and signed. Then another piece of paper was posted next to it, saying “if you signed there, you just fucked up 🙂 good life at McDonalds”. Brilliant!

stay in school

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.


Cosplay contests

The main event at an anime convention is the cosplay contest and now at Nijikon it was the same. Busy with a different photo session (more on that later), I was able to attend only on Sunday, when they had the group contest, where the focus is on interpretation, less on costumes. Still, some of the plays were good.

nijikon cosplay
nijikon cosplay
nijikon cosplay

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.


Nijikon guests

Out local anime conventions are growing, after Otaku gave the tone in spring, it was now the time for Nijikon 2012 to follow, bringing a number of international guests to show their cosplay skills and encourage the local movement.

nijikon

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.


Niji, Niji, Niji!

The Romanian fans eagerly awaited Nijikon, out biggest anime convention since last year (well, is not that bad, we had the smaller Otaku in the meantime), so when happened they put on their best costumes to show the world their passion. It happened over the last week-end at Palatul Copiilor in Bucharest.

nijikon
nijikon
nijikon
nijikon
nijikon

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.


Tea time

Nicely flavoured tea and a cake with Belgian chocolate in an exquisite tea house in Bucharest

tea and cake

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.


Carving

jack o' lantern
This year I carved my own squashes (instead of traditional pumpkins used some small gourds), put candles inside, lightened them and then took some photos, of course. I am not into the Halloween stuff, but carving pumpkins is fun.
jack o' lantern

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.


Two on a bench

Couple enjoying one of the last remaining warm and sunny weekends of the year.

two

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.


Aint’ no jamon

Friends who visited Spain keep telling me about jamón, the local speciality. I wasn’t there yet, can’t tell if it is up to its reputation, I can only show you some regular Romanian smoked ham. Not bad.

jamon

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.


Must in the family

Crushing the grapes into must (AKA wine making) is a family thing: mother, father, son, everybody get to work and each has his own things to do. Here it looks like the father is in the advantage.

must

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.