Andrei Dragoi ( aka Enilffo Raeppa)

What is the reason for which I take photos, what is the reason that I go to these places? It could be summed up by love and passion. I like humans, just as much as I despise them (at times), I am curious about them, ... about the other, and through that very difference that exists I fight my own fears and demons. Firstly, the photography itself, the taking of and editing arises from a basic and , I call it, a selfish endeavour...the art of taking and producing the photo, which then translates into the compulsion that is found within the shutter sound and its activating gesture, the security and structure that lies within the frame of the viewfinder. On a second and perhaps more mature level, it is the human and social engagement with the subject, that I seek and desire to touch and connect with, through the prism of my own fault lines and humanity. It is hard to find the words. Most of the time I walk. I walk as a form of therapy and meditation and eventually my steps guide me to places. I look for solitary places, where the contrast of the subject and the environment , the juxtaposition of flesh and industrial landscape, or the grittiness and fragility of human coexistence is felt. I need to remind myself that the time needs to be spent because there is no photography without an underlying human and spiritual engagement and relationship exchange. It applies to photography as well as to all other endeavours of life. So , in all honesty an for honesty to manifest through the frame, I need to be engaged and spend the time to enable myself to gather and acquire a clear view of the why and the understanding of the subject and of myself.