7 years

Romaphobia, the discrimination against and persecution of Roma people has long been a central theme for Romanian photographer Mugur Varzariu who has worked constantly to expose and document the plight of Roma communities across his homeland. Since first arriving in Eforie Sud in the Northern Dobruja region of Romania at the request of a local Constanta prefecture employee, himself from the Roma community, Varzariu has witnessed the repeated harassment, victimisation and systematic degradation of the Roma community there. Living under constant threat of eviction, subjected to frequent police intimidation and denied access to water and electricity by local officials who use hard-line actions against Roma as a means of winning support from a largely Romaphobic population, these people have been pushed beyond the most extreme fringes of society and denied even the most basic human rights. Varzariu has forged deep connections within that community and over a period of seven years he has visited and re-visited, sharing with them their daily battles to survive. Witnessing and exposing systematic abuses as they’ve been moved on and evicted from their homes then re-evicted from derelict buildings, to hovels, to containers and to no shelter at all. Yet at the same time he shows their pride in community, determined spirit and unflinching defiance in the face of what is often termed as the last acceptable form of racism.