I am a 33 year old amateur photographer based in Bucharest, Romania.
My story
I have been shooting pictures for as long as I can remember. My first camera, a Lomo Smena 8M, was 10 years older than me.
I work for a huge software company, but photography has always been my number one hobby. My primary interests lie with shooting concerts and artists, travel photography and nudes. I am available for commercial work - feel free to use any of the methods under the Contact page to get in touch with me.
My influences
If I had to pick out one photographer as my favorite, that would probably be David LaChapelle. I love his understanding and use of color, his careful composition and the symbolic relationship of his work to the glamorous all-american image he draws upon. I am a great fan of both his early commercial and fashion work, as well as the artistic subjects he approches in his later personal projects.
Helmut Newton has been another one of my long-time obsessions. Just like with LaChapelle, I could easily pick the Helmut Newton from a stack of 100 photographs. I think his distinctive style has shaped the image of the late 1970s and early '80s, depicting women as strong and powerful subjects, radiating a cool, almost machine-like glow of beauty.
In Eugenio Recuenco's work, I admire the visual impact of his storytelling, the dark and decadent atmosphere he manages to create, as well as the wonderful blend between foreground and background which is always present in his pictures.
Richard Avedon is in my opinion the quintessential portrait photographer. His images drill right into the soul of his subjects, exposing their inner beauty and the true nature of their self. I perceive him as the B&W correspondent of David LaChapelle - the same high degree of expression and graphic depiction of the American life, without the color shock later created by LaChapelle.
Bettina Rheims creates some of the most sensual and erotically charged photographs I have seen. Without reaching beyond the boundary of erotica and pornography, her work oozes sexuality, carnal beauty and lust.
James Nachtwey is perhaps one of the greatest war photographers out there. His reportage work, while mostly beyond the tolerance limit of what I would personally be up for doing, is of tremendous significance and delivers a powerful message accross. I recommend the movie "War Photographer", a film about Nachtwey - his story and the reality of the warzones he has worked in.
Last but not least, I think we can all look to Edward Weston as a master of shape and light. His images play with the concepts of contrast, graphic design, form, shape and figure. Maybe the first true artist photographer, Weston pushed the boundaries of his trade and influenced entire generations of photographers after him.
My gear
I started shooting when I was 10 years old, with a Lomo Smena 8M camera my mother lent me. While most of the pictures were pink-hued, overlapping or just generally crap, the activity was very enjoyable and I was genuinely emotional every time I picked up a roll of film from the lab. This is when I learned my first lessons about composition, exposure and focus.
On my 18th birthday, my father lent me his camera - a Canon AE-1 film SLR, with manual focus FD lenses. I used it for 5 years before switching to digital with the Canon EOS 350D.
I currently shoot with a Canon EOS 6D and the following lenses (in order of preference):
- Canon 50mm f/1.4
- Canon 17-40mm f/4L
- Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8
- Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro
- Samyang 8mm/f3.5 fisheye
For film work I use a Canon EOS 5 or my trusty old Canon AE-1 with either a Canon FD 50mm f/1.4 lens or a Canon FD 135mm f/3.5. I am also shooting special projects on medium format with a Bronica ETRSi camera with 75mm and 150mm lenses. My films of choice are Kodak Portra, Tmax and TriX, and Rollei Ortho 25.
Accessory-wise, I use:
Sandisk memory cards
Canon, Nissin and Vivitar flash
Manfrotto tripod
Giottos tripod head, monopod and light stands
Rosco gels
Hoya and Tiffen filters
Crumpler, Tamrac and Lowepro bags and cases