Cosmin Bumbut is one of Romania’s most important photographers. His images comprise a powerful visual archive of the country’s recent history. Spanning 35 years, this retrospective album is more than a collection — it is a portrait of Romania itself, from the turbulence of the post-communist transition to the realities of today.
The book brings together early work from the 1990s, photographic essays “written” on trains, and landscapes marked by the end of communism, alongside striking fashion and commercial photography created during Bumbut’s years in advertising. It also includes his long-term documentary work on prisons, poverty, and marginalized communities.
In recent years, Bumbut has focused on Romanian migration across Europe, one of the defining chapters of the country’s contemporary history, capturing labor, integration, identity, and the fragile bonds of families living between countries. Together, these photographs offer a rare, intimate record of a country shaped by loss, survival, and displacement.
