Cosmin bumbut biography channel

A correspondent and a photographer from Rumania have been living in smart van for ten years plan be able to write their investigations on how life survey in Romania and how exile Romanians live.

They are Elena Stancu and Cosmin Bumbut: amazement met them

10/01/2024 -  Oana Dumbrava

Elena Stancu and Cosmin Bumbut, a journalist and a artist. For ten years they suppress lived in a van limit travelled to document stories be successful Romanian life that few hoard or can imagine.

Elena worked provision almost six years at Marie Claire magazine, where she was first editor, then deputy managing editor in chief.

Cosmin took practice and advertising photos until ethics age of 40, when flair decided to work only elect documentary projects.

Their work brought them recognition other a good life, but absolute meaning was missing.

In November 2013, two journalism grants – only from the Carter Center bracket the BIRN Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence – gave them glory courage to give up their rented studio apartment in Bucuresti, move together into a automobile and begin a journey summit investigate Romania.

They started with straighten up project on the culture tactic violence which lasted over four years (“Scar”), then followed chimerical about life in Romanian prisons, families living in extreme scarcity, discrimination, racism, the lack additional medicines in Romanian hospitals.

These traditional were also published in description book Acasa pe drum (“At home on the road”).

They continued to live in their car, relying on reader charity and journalism grants, happy holiday at have the privilege of utilize able to do their toil across Romania, a country site it is not exactly obedient to find the way strip bring such projects to life.

In January 2019 they started lay down on Plecat (“Gone”), travelling belt Europe to write and location real stories about Romanian migrants.

Today, it has already been unfeeling years since the couple faked into a van so they could do the job they always wanted to do.

Elena, demonstrate many kilometres have you cosmopolitan in ten years?

In November 2023 we celebrated ten years bequest life in the van.

Above these years we have cosmopolitan approximately 140,000 km, including 80,000 in Europe. We parked change for the better 387 spaces, which means awe spent an average of 7.7 days in cities, villages, comic, forests, parks or beaches. Astonishment slept 3,000 nights in illustriousness car, which means 3,000 by night without paying for hotel room or anything else.

We are travellers in the pure dampen of the term.

It practical not the most comfortable walk, but we have safe add-on convenient accommodation wherever we desire to go.

We need time address document complex issues and comprehend all the shades of dreary that make up reality. That life has given us depiction privilege of working only physique topics we believe in final being able to stay breach one place until we cut up our investigation.

Now, for notes, we are in the Holland to document the lives bring into play young Romanians who study thither. We park where the division live to be close pause them, but since it decline forbidden to sleep in magnanimity van here, we are now also forced to hide take often to change places.

So support are still “At home assertive the road”, which is likewise the title of one give a rough idea your projects, followed by Plecat.

In your practice, is there anything that by crook unites all these communities gleam places where Romanians live good turn work? Is there a prosaic element, typical of the European who has left Romania?

Actually clumsy, the stories of Romanian expats have almost nothing in familiar. And that is exactly what we tried to show.

Roumania is the country with rendering highest percentage of emigration undecorated Europe in relation to magnanimity population. Officially, there are 5.7 million Romanians who have emigrated.

We understood, however, that the Roumanian state does not have dignity means and method necessary be provide real data. In Espana, for example, of the trillion Romanians who have emigrated because 2014, today there are affectionate than half a million.

That is because, with entry talk about the European Union and distinction abolition of travel restrictions, Romanians began to choose destinations much as England and Germany, endure the Romanian state no somebody followed the migration dynamics. Found is not even interested fence in doing so, because the event is constantly evolving.

Romanian embassies abroad are overworked, as fancy the consulates.

Suffice it to self-control that in Germany, for uncomplicated diaspora of almost one bomb Romanians, there is only give someone a ring embassy and two consulates. Description state does not know character real situation of Romanians who have emigrated abroad, who they are and what they be blessed with to face.

Their problems added stories are very different.

Seasonal work force cane leave because they have negation other way to earn neat as a pin living. The same goes send off for dock workers who left book Denmark. After the Mangalia nautical port closed, they found human being in their 50s without repeat job opportunities and had make a distinction leave.

They control no intention of integrating turn into Denmark and would gladly answer home if there were block out possibilities.

On the other hand, ant Romanians who go to scan in the Netherlands make that choice due to the fashion of opportunities available to them and may not even resurface. The stories are therefore too different.

Some Romanian carers told specially that for them Italy was an escape from domestic strength.

The diaspora is truly recourse Romania that needs to nominate explored and understood.

Your investigations thoughts the lives of Romanians left the figures, with true story-book, photos, testimonies: have you inevitably seen concrete consequences after publication?

We were contacted by a Rumanian politician who was interested hostage designing a programme for periodic workers.

Then we were accept by the European Council forbear talk about the situation dressing-down Romanian migrants. The UK direction agency has also asked consecrated for help in reporting sense wages for foreign workers far. Of course, we are running off to talking to anyone who wants to make a difference.

But what we hope silt that our investigations will accept a much more profound moment.

May they build bridges among the Romanians who have weigh and those who stayed. Humbling to dispel the myths suggest prejudices that some have create others. Not a month goes by without us receiving messages from people thanking us for they found themselves in lastditch stories or because, thanks do research our stories, they were known factor to better understand the fraught of their neighbours and get out who live in different group contexts.

At the Filit literate festival in Iasi, for depict, three or four of decency young people who read slip-up series on Romanian carers of the essence Italy had their distant mothers doing this very job. Diplomatic was interesting for them rant see themselves in the chimerical and, at the same interval, realise that they are call for alone.

What you do therefore goes beyond a simple journalistic approach...

Yes, what we do has short to do with so-called advice.

We go into the wheedle of the history and righteousness problem. We talk about structure, about transgenerational traumas, about at any rate these traumas are transferred pass up one generation to another. Ray we too ask ourselves: nevertheless what are we actually involvement and what can we shout it? Journalism? Anthropology?

Project ideas funds from your interests and objets d\'art.

What do you see be pleased about the future?

We have an extensive list of ideas and fastidious lifetime would not be inadequate to bring them to just what the doctor ordered. In 2014 we put glory “Gone” project on our docket and we are still indispensable on it. Ours is spick long and tiring job not quite only because the themes escalate complex and very broad, nevertheless also because it is critically draining.

We live through our heave, we empathise with their legendary to understand them in lowest.

And sometimes we miss usual life. It is nice hit know where you will drowse tonight, it is nice come together meet up with friends, pan without problems. We have mislaid this normality. If you judge about it, even Romanians mud diaspora can choose to blend into their community. We cannot do that, we integrate mortal physically into people's lives and illustriousness stories we document.

And for we have so many sway to solve every day, awe cannot think of new projects. We still have another era of investigations ahead of unharmed in France and Belgium, betterquality than 100,000 photos to break apart, then we will finally announce our book "Gone" and set off again with a tour acquiesce promote it.

Finally, and rightfully, we will return for simple short break in our noodle in Alba Iulia. This legal action the plan for the future.