Photographer of Romanian miners’ plight receives world praise
Thu, 23 Oct 2014 15:33:00 BST
Student photographer Alex Beldea shortlisted for 2014 International Photography Awards for his photo documentary of miners facing redundancy in Romania’s Jiu Valley
TALENTED young Romanian photographer Alex Beldea is using his camera to document people facing changes and challenges in their lives, in the UK and in his own town of Petroșani. And the University of Huddersfield student has now won recognition in a prestigious international competition.
Alex, aged 22, is in the final year of his photography degree course. He already has experience of commercial photography, gained during a 12-month placement with an agency based in Leeds, and he undertakes freelance work. But he is also developing a portfolio of pictures that are social documents as well as artistic images.
He is from the town of Petroșani, in Romania’s Jiu Valley. It has long been a coal mining area, but three of its pits are facing closure, meaning an uncertain future for the workers. Over the course of several months Alex paid return visits to Romania and photographed the miners and their surroundings, and by 2013 he had a portfolio of more than 100 pictures documenting the final stages of mining in Paroșeni, Petrila and Uricani.
He selected six of the images and entered them for the 2014 International Photography Awards, which attract a large global entry. They are run in tandem with the Lucie Foundation, which has a mission to honour top photographers, discover emerging talent and promote the appreciation of photography worldwide. Alex’s selection earned him an honourable mention in the Non-Professional, Photo Essay and Feature Story category.
Alex states that one of his aims was to raise levels of sympathy and understanding for the Romanian miners and he has now embarked on a new documentary project, photographing Syrians refugees who have come to the UK, fleeing the conflict in their homeland. This will be the final-year project for his BA degree.
An enthusiastic photographer since boyhood, Alex settled on the UK as the best country in which to develop his skills and knowledge at degree level, and the University of Huddersfield had the best course.
To view more of his photos go to Alex's photo gallery or his website.
