Eyescapes series

In 2013, after a few years working as a commercial photographer and spending long hours in front of the computer retouching images, often ending up with backache, I started practicing yoga and I decided to leave London in search of a “reality that does not need retouching”. 

Just before the start of the journey, I received a providential gift from a stranger: a bag full of expired film rolls that I took together with my analogue camera to Italy, India and Bali.

During this trip, I instinctively started to shoot multiple exposure images, feeling a deep sense of liberation arising from overlapping different perspectives on the same film frame. 

The ongoing series Eyescapes and my personal photographic style were spontaneously born.

The inner conflict that I experienced in my personal life, growing up between two opposite realities, the Romanian communist and the Italian capitalist ones, without feeling completely at home in any of them, experiencing a constant feeling of unsettledness and desire to escape, finds resolution in my work through the creation of a third visual reality that synthesizes my conclusions of what is good of two or more different layers.

Seeing the images once the film was developed and the sensation I experienced when shooting pushed me to analise myself deeply: by looking outside through the camera lens I have actually got to see my inner world, found peace and realised that for me home is where there is time to seek and contemplate the beauty arising from overlapping different perspectives.

All the photographs in this series are available in 3 sizes:
30x45 cm, 60x90 cm and 90x135 cm.

Outside In
I was visiting a delightful villa in Florence, when I felt overwhelmed by the beauty of the place and a state of sudden inspiration arose: I instinctively photographed the inside and then I run outside to capture the facade of the villa.

This image questions the relationship between our outer and inner worlds, our conscious and subconscious realities.

How does looking constantly outside for what we think we need, affect us on the inside? And how does our inner state, affect our external perceptions?

This is an analogue photograph, therefore the layering happened completely inside the camera by exposing the same portion of film twice, in just one attempt.

Symbiosis or Breathe in Breathe out
During my three months stay in Bali, I had the chance to meet and assist a Tibetan reincarnated monk (Rinpoche).

On the day this image was captured, the monk taught me how to make chakras (amulets containing Medicine Buddha prepared by the Dalai Lama in person).

After finishing the ritual, he sat on his altar and started to recite some mantras. I found that moment extremely peaceful and suddenly I associated that act with the cycles of nature and the symbiotic relationship that links humans and trees: we breathe in what they breathe out and vice versa.

Recent studies reveal that actually reciting mantras helps slowing down the breathing and lowering the stress levels.

This is an analogue photograph, therefore the layering happened completely inside the camera by exposing the same portion of film twice, in just one attempt.

The Silver Dear to My Heart
I grew up in Tuscany and olive trees, with their silver leaves always fascinated me, especially in bright sunshine. I was in San Gimignano when I instinctively captured the valley twice and then I photographed the tips of a group of olive trees. "They look like silver spikes piercing the landscape together", I thought.
This is an analogue photograph, therefore the layering happened completely inside the camera by exposing the same portion of film twice, in just one attempt.

We Need to Talk--God

I was back to London after her six months trip, when I noticed through the window of the bus this huge billboard, saying "We need to talk--God".

It made me smile and I jumped out of the bus. I pointed my camera first to the billboard and then to the sky which looked pretty loud.

This association was triggered by the image of God in the Old Testament and by the fact I found quite funny a man made billboard speaking on behalf of God.

This is an analogue photograph, therefore the layering happened completely inside the camera by exposing the same portion of film twice in just one attempt.

Waiting or Time And Space Relativity
After a long trip in the East of the World, I was in transit for a few hours in the airport of Ha Noi on my way back to London, when she noticed the round clocks on the wall of the waiting room. I looked then at the grid patterned ceiling through which the light was filtering.

A sudden idea about circularity (East) and linearity (West) of time and Einstein's relativity of space and time arose.

I instinctively captured Ha Noi clock, London clock and the grid.

This is an analogue photograph, therefore the layering happened completely inside the camera by exposing the same portion of film three times in just one attempt.

Sifting Through Life My guesthouse overlooking a beautiful rice paddy in Ubud was perfect to observe the harvest time. My curiosity got captured by the precision of the energetic movements the Balinese man was sifting the rice grains to clean them from not desired impurities.
I thought to use the curtain of her room to sift that vision too and isolate the subject from other collateral visual information.
This is a paradigm of our daily universal learning process: we sift the information we collect, we keep what we need (the rice) and we discard what we don't (the impurities).
This is an analogue photograph, therefore the layering happened completely inside the camera by exposing the same portion of film twice in just one attempt.

Mobile Horizons
I was contemplating the deep pink tones of the winter sunset from Volterra's high fortress, when I thought: traveling means constantly shifting horizons.

This movement inherent into having new experiences shifts also our horizons of meaning in life, as our relative position around truths changes.

Then I instinctively took this triple exposure.

This is an analogue photograph, therefore the layering happened completely inside the camera by exposing the same portion of film three times in just one attempt.

Between Earth and Sky
I was visiting Beachy Head, a beautiful yet infamous place for the number of suicides happened there.

While thinking about the fragility of life, I noticed these three human figures walking at a distance: they looked minuscule and suspended between Earth and Sky.

So I photographed them and then pointed the camera to the sky to capture its layer of blue.

This is an analogue photograph, therefore the layering happened completely inside the camera by exposing the same portion of film twice in just one attempt.

Secret Knowledge
I was in Siena when my attention got captured by the imposing presence of the Dome.

I thought about the role of the Church as secret keeper of knowledge throughout the centuries, so I instinctively photographed the back of the building - not the facade - and then I pointed the camera to shoot a brick wall kissed by the shadow of a tree - maybe the one of the knowledge of good and evil? -, basking in the light of the sunset.

This is an analogue photograph, therefore the layering happened completely inside the camera by exposing the same portion of film twice, in just one attempt.

Change or Kali
While I was in India, I studied traditional Tantra yoga and Vedic philosophy.
Kali, the goddess of change, really inspired me. During one of my morning walks, I encountered a beautiful hibiscus flower, symbol of the goddess in hindu iconography.
I instinctively photographed it and then I pointed the camera to capture the green rice paddy, perfect example of perpetual cycle of creation and destruction.
This is an analogue photograph, therefore the layering happened completely inside the camera by exposing the same portion of film twice in just one attempt.

Moulins À Vent
During my stay in Bali, Vrabie observed the increasing urbanization process that is subtracting the land to rice paddies in favor of new buildings dedicated to tourists seeking a tropical holiday dream adorned with palm trees and blue sky.

The buzzing construction activity inspired her to photograph the ricefield through a frame suggesting a house and then to shot the palm trees floating in the sky, like giant windmills, recalling the first industrial revolution.

This is an analogue photograph, therefore the layering happened completely inside the camera by exposing the same portion of film twice, in just one attempt.

Pining Lovers
I was in Lucca, Tuscany, walking along the ancient city walls, when a thunderstorm started to form in the distance: the wind was blowing and the light dimmed dramatically to announce imminent arrival of the rain and the clouds.
I noticed these two pines which looked like two lovers holding hands/roots, united by such a strong bond that made them look similar, almost one.
"I bet that if they get separated, they definitely pine (i.e. long) for each other, but the pink clouds in the distance are a promising hope for reunion", I thought with a smile on my face.
I took one exposure and then I took another one by zooming in to suggest a sense of movement between the two layers.
This is an analogue photograph, therefore the layering happened completely inside the camera by exposing the same portion of film twice in just one attempt.

Lotus: From Mud To Flower
At sunset the rice field workers were carrying on their shoulders the heavy harvest home, while the lotus was placidly resting its leaves, floating on the nearby river surface.

I shot with reverence the first scene twice to capture the movement of the workers across the field and then she shot the second one.

I thought that humans immerse themselves in the deep mud of physical and mental effort to bloom exactly like beautiful lotuses.

This is an analogue photograph, therefore the layering happened completely inside the camera by exposing the same portion of film three times in just one attempt.

Water Gem
I was walking next to a pond at sunrise, when I noticed a very big green leaf containing a massive water drop. I captured it instinctively and then she pointed the camera to the pond and photographed it too.

I thought about the fact that human bodies are mostly made of water, an element characterized by unique properties. I concluded: "We are water gems, gently supported by Mother Nature, like this drop by this leaf".

This is an analogue photograph, therefore the layering happened completely inside the camera by exposing the same portion of film twice, in just one attempt.

Due to the overlap of the colors of the two layers, the leaf disappeared.

A Blanket For The Trees
I took part to the Silence, Awareness, Existence residency at Arteles, Finland in the winter of 2019.
I made the most of the short daylight time (about 5 hours a day), exploring the surroundings, by walking in the deep snow and observing fascinated its reactions to the different daily weather conditions. Hues of gold, pink, purple and blue and phenomena like diamond dust would mesmerize me.
One morning, on my early peregrinations, I noticed the soft and silent wavy blanket of the snow covering the fields, so I instinctively shot it and then pointed my camera against the sharp and edgy silhouette of the trees.
"The trees deserve a soft white cover too - voilá!", I thought.

My Home On The Clouds
I took part to the Silence, Awareness, Existence residency at Arteles, Finland in the winter of 2019.
I made the most of the short daylight time (about 5 hours a day), exploring the surroundings, by walking in the deep snow and observing fascinated its reactions to the different daily weather conditions. Hues of gold, pink, purple and blue and phenomena like diamond dust would mesmerize me.
Once around sunset (about 3 pm), she got attracted by the strong gold light coming from the windows of a house: I instinctively pointed my camera to capture it and then I turned around and realized it was the reflection of the sunset through the clouds, so I photographed that too.This is my Home on the Clouds, I thought.

Golden Traces
I took part to the Silence, Awareness, Existence residency at Arteles, Finland in the winter of 2019.
I made the most of the short daylight time (about 5 hours a day), exploring the surroundings, by walking in the deep snow and observing fascinated its reactions to the different daily weather conditions. Hues of gold, pink, purple and blue and phenomena like diamond dust would mesmerize me.
I was visiting Up and Under by Nancy Holt, when I noticed the golden hue of the snow due to the intense bright and warm sunlight, a very rare phenomenon during the month of residency. Excited once again by the versatility of the snow, I took my camera and photographed instinctively the landscape and the tyre traces.

When the Sun Embraces the Moon I took part to the Silence, Awareness, Existence residency at Arteles, Finland in the winter of 2019.
I made the most of the short daylight time (about 5 hours a day), exploring the surroundings, by walking in the deep snow and observing fascinated its reactions to the different daily weather conditions. Hues of gold, pink, purple and blue and phenomena like diamond dust would mesmerize me.
One day I witnessed the sun setting through the trees while the moon was rising: I instinctively shot the sun twice - the second one by turning the camera upside down - and then captured the moon.
"They rarely meet each other, it feels like the sun is embracing the moon" - I thought.

Birch and Snow SIlver
I took part to the Silence, Awareness, Existence residency at Arteles, Finland in the winter of 2019.
I made the most of the short daylight time (about 5 hours a day), exploring the surroundings, by walking in the deep snow and observing fascinated its reactions to the different daily weather conditions. Hues of gold, pink, purple and blue and phenomena like diamond dust would mesmerize me.
On a very crisp day the sky was very blue, while the sun was making the trunks and branches of the birches and the snow sparkles shine in an almost blinding silver. I took my camera and I photographed the trees first then I captured the snow, totally in love with that preciousness.
This is an analogue photograph, therefore the layering happened completely inside the camera by exposing the same portion of film three times in just one attempt.