COSMIN GRADINARU
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COSMIN GRADINARU
First of all this series of photos is not about an exotic and backward Romania, it is about a nomad community that has kept its tradition alive over the years, despite all the social and political pressures during the communist period. Blamed for their nomad way of life and forced to abandon their customs, obliged to carry ID cards, to show a permanent address and a place of work, some of them developed a system within a system. They have taken on an important role: they are the system´s last “sanitary attendants”. A new job has appeared: scrap iron collecting. The business is run by ethnic Roma (gypsies) and has splintered off from the highly profitable business of gathering and melting non-ferrous metals, or from collecting and selling old bottles. There are dozens of waggons which come to scrap iron centers every day, loaded with various brand of cars: from Moskwich to Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Volkswagen and even Jaguar. The cars are taken either from parking lots or from the street, were they’ve been abandoned. They are then loaded and carried by waggons. The amount of money people can get for one car is around $ 6-8, depending on its weight. The distance they cover for each car is about 15 km and they are the only collectors of these wastes. Cosmin Gradinaru |