“In this photoessay commissioned by EPEA I had a close look at the European identity of a
specific country at the fringes of the continent: Romania, in constant transition since 1989 and one of the
newest members of the European Union.
On my way through Romania for my Beyond
Borders project in 2008 I noticed strong transformations going on in all aspects of daily life.
Huge billboards, shopping malls, construction sites and renovations can be seen at every corner. European
brands obviously taking over new markets and Western banks flooding the country with loans.
Obviously
the latest economical crisis has decelerated the speed of this unhealthy turbocapitalism. How does this
country look like, after these first "Capitalist years", more than twenty years after Ceausescu's regime?
How does a European identity feel and look like in Romanian
civil society? How does such a
complex thing as an identity manifest itself? How are European values, norms and identities transported? My
photo essay wants to find answers and ask new questions taking in account cultural, economical, social and
historic levels.”
Frederic Lezmi