Photographs from Romania by Jan Michalko
Exhibition at Leica Gallery Solms, August 2011.
Leica Camera AG
Oskar-Barnack-Straße 11
35606 Solms, Germany
This month´s exhibition shows photographs of Romania and is called “Drum Bun!”, which, translated into english, means “Have a good journey!”.
During his many travels through the former Eastern bloc, the German photographer Jan Michalko visited Romania for the first time in 2004 to work on a documentary about the new member countries of the European Union. He was fascinated by the country: the history, the mentality of the people, the contrast between urban and rural life, the mysticism and the resulting inconsistencies. Since then he has been to Romania several times, always in search of intensive, personal, unadulterated and irrational moments. His photos, often characterized by the comedy and tragedy of everyday life, the poetry of the unspectacular, show people in their natural environment and give the viewer an impression of the atmosphere they live in.
Based in Berlin, Jan Michalko concentrates mainly on reportage projects. The photos he took in Europe and Asia have already been published in many newspapers and magazines.
