A blackberry picker. In distant parts od the Romanian mountain range Muramureš you can meet not only sheep and shepherds but also blackberry pickers. (August 2007) Author Štěpán Hašek, Prague
Market in Sighet (Sighet, Maramuresh, August 2007) Author Štěpán Hašek, Prague	Old Veta. When I was a little boy, my father used to take me to Veta, an old Roma woman, who bought beer in the brewery and sold it a little more expensive in front of her door. Therefore we used to say: We are going to old Veta (la baba Veta). We also used to visit her with my teacher to persuade her Grandson to attend school. Veta´s improvised pub is called At the white horse. In summer she sells popcorn there, she can foretell future from cards or from 41 corn grains. (summer 2005) Author Ciprian Cirniala, Prague
Where? „The man is ill“, told me a Roma woman. As she had asked him a lot, he slowly came out of his dark room and posed in front of my objective. (summer 2005) Author Ciprian Cirniala, Prague	Waiting. I think he is going to get delighted when I order some spirits for him at the shop „At Lidia“ or „At the waiter“. (Summer 2005) Author Ciprian Cirniala, Prague
Discovering the world. Puzzled by the objective and people loitering about. (Summer 2005) Author Ciprian Cirniala, Prague	The future without spectacles. At crossroads Stadionului and Bazalt in front of residential houses there stand two small shops: „At the waiter“ and „At Lidia“. The girl sometimes stands in front of the door, sometimes at the cash desk and asks you for some Bani to buy herself candies. (1 Eurocent is approx. 3,8 Bani). (Summer 2005) Author Ciprian Cirniala, Prague
The future without spectacles. They were rejoicing when I was taking pictures of them, they were jumping, teasing each other, laughing at me and wanted photo after another. (Summer 2005) Author Ciprian Cirniala, Prague	A visit to the town. This man has come to the town from a distant village to donate blood for money. On the way back to the bus station his son fell asleep. (Summer 2005) Author Ciprian Cirniala, Prague
A day is a holiday. For her smile I am obliged to my guide, her neighbour. (Summer 2005) Author Ciprian Cirniala, Prague

Ciprian Cirniala wrote:

The photos were taken in the city of Buzau in the Southeast of Romania in summer 2005. More precisely, it is an area inhabited by Romas and it begins in our quarter. They are not traditions, customs that I photographed but mostly lethargic afternoons, common everyday life of many Romas who live in a city and have largely lost touch with their own traditions.

Notes from my diary

Summer 2005. For the city where I have found my new home I wanted to bring an image of the country of my origin, Romania, an image of unknown and downtrodden „Europe“. The community of Romas live there as listlessly and forgotten as they used to in the times of Ceauşescu. However, compared to the old days, Romas (both adult and children) seem to be more aware of their poverty and loneliness. When looking into their eyes many clichés popped up in my head and formed into a tiring tune. I caught myself feeling I did not “wish” to change anything about it.

I didn’t feel like „ameliorating the world“ when I was walking through their quarter with my camera and 15 films. I was more pondering on their possible sale to a magazine. A colleague of my father’s was accompanying me. Soon ten or more children gathered in front of my objective. And more and more were turning up; also adults who wanted to know what I was doing came. They were approaching. Some suspected a potential impostor and warned me to get out of there. Others may have seen a hero who could rouse them from their everyday life for just a little while. I don’t even remember whether I had some sweets for children then.