Photography is the science, art and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film says Wikipedia. But there is something more to ad to better define photography. The talent. Roumanian photographer Cristian Munteanu demonstrate that without any long preparation, just pushed by your talent you can acheve big results. Artist Statement: “I don’t know who I am, but I am trying to find out. I was born on the 23rd of December 1978. It was a heavy winter. My father and my brother were out carol-singing. My mother was receiving gifts or, at least, that is what I like to believe J I started with filmstrips and vinyl discs. Those were the happiest days of my life, I think. Then I started reading. A lot. I played football for 13 years. No notable results, however, in part that was because of my frail figure and also my lack of ambition. Results at school became poor. Books, on the other hand, I loved. On the tram or at home, you could always see me reading my books instead of my textbooks. I wrote a few dozens of poems. Some of them were good. The first were truly embarrassing. Around year 2000, I started doing film photography. Three rolls of films during the holiday. I didn’t feel a thing. Then I bought my own camera for a trip to Athens in september 2009, a digital one. I took about 300 photos. One photo told me that I can do more. And let’s not forget the friend who had enough confidence in me for both of us. Since 2010 I’ve been trying to find my way of expression with the help of photography. I sold my camera fast because it was not my best choice. I bought another, in 2010, which I also sold and then I practiced, for 2 years, with a borrowed Nikon D80. A year ago I bought a Sony Nex 5N, after I realized that photography for me is more than a whim. It proved to be an excellent camera. Now I am still practicing. I never took a photography course or went to a workshop or anything of the sort. The only exercise I made was watching the works of important photographers and practicing. And feeling. And thinking. Especially a lot of thinking. Apart from all this, the beginning of my story as a photographer lies in this photo of Van Gogh. It was known to be Van Gogh’s only photograph from his late youth which haunted me for a long time (until the second one came along, although the latter had not been certified yet as belonging to the Dutch painter). We can see the face of Emile Bernard, but I wish I could see Van Gogh’s face, and I suppose I am not the only one. I think that was the first time I realized that photography is able to take us far in time and space, along with our feelings and thoughts. It’s like taking a trip to past times dressed in the clothes of the present”– Christian Munteanu. For more projects or to get in touch with Cristian, do not hesitate to follow the link below.
