Haunting “Notes for an Epilogue” photos documenting Romania’s changes

Photographer Tamas Dezso is documenting the changes Romania is going through, 25 years after the Eastern European country has overthrown its communist regime, using the “Notes for an Epilogue” series.

Romania is located in south-eastern Europe and about 25 years ago its citizens have put an end to a 25-years dictatorship. Nicolae Ceausescu has been overthrown from his rulership in December 1989 as the Soviet empire was collapsing.

It was not all roses for Romanians. Unfortunately, things are still not going as great as people would have hoped. However, a transitional country’s most affected people are the ones living in villages as their traditional way of life is fading away.

Photographer Tamas Dezso has set on a quest for documenting the changes suffered by these people, who have gone through a lot of trouble in their attempts to dismantle the communist structure.

“Notes for an Epilogue” as Romania is changing after ending communist dictatorship

The artist is based in Budapest, Hungary and he has has started the project back in 2011. It is called “Notes for an Epilogue” and it is aiming to get a better understanding of the feelings that the Romanians must go through after such major changes.

There are feelings of isolation and disappointment, but there is always hope. People will always dream that things will get better, but the images show that patience is needed.

After ending the dictatorship, the people who have been in charge have had to make some difficult decisions. Some bad decisions have also been made in the process as huge factories have been closed making people lose their jobs, while villages have been depopulated.

Looking at the pictures you can see that there is a state of decay with buildings being destroyed by time as well as residents who sell iron and bricks reclaimed from these abandoned structures.

Haunting photos of long-forgotten places and decaying buildings by Tamas Dezso

Not the smartest, nor the strongest survive, but the one who manages to adapt. There are still people who want to keep traditions alive, but everyone needs to adapt, and Tamas Dezso believes that these beliefs need to be captured on camera before they are gone forever.

The photographer captures haunting photos of decaying areas that have been forgotten by people living in the city, while villagers will soon leave these places as well.

Because Romania’s rural areas are taking too long to adapt, they will be absorbed by the city at some point into the future and it would be a shame for these sights to go undocumented.

More photos are available at Tamas Dezso’s official website, where you can also find an impressive list of the photographer’s awards and exhibitions.