Haymaking, Valeni, Maramures, Romania July 2003 by Davin Ellicson

It's difficult to place HHS contender Davin Ellicson's photographs in 2003, the year they were taken in the Maramures region of Romania. It is even harder to suspend disbelief when you realize that this is the same country that delivered the stunning (and very contemporary) film 4 Months 3 Weeks and 2 Days just last year. The traditions and way of life he is documenting in the village of Valeni have long disappeared in the West and are slowly disappearing in Romania too as the country embraces the shift from Communism to Capitalism.

I've been fascinated by these transitions since studying in Prague as an undergrad in 2001 and recently, for reasons that don't need to be explained here, found myself delving into post-Ceausescu Romania and was shocked to read that it's possible still to see women sweeping stoops with brooms made of sticks and men steering carriages drawn by horses. But now, seeing Ellicson's photographs, and seeing more of them on his website, and reading about them on his blog, I know that it's true. It's true in spite of the fact that this is also the country that was dazzled by the soap opera Dallas and is home to a sprawling replica of the set.

The remarkable thing about Ellicson's photos is that they do not show any malignant signs of Capitalism, especially not the particularly offensive American brand that seems to have manifested elsewhere in the country. In fact, he shows no evidence of this change at all, effectively creating nostalgia for a time and place that, in most places of the western world, have ceased to exist, and making a solid case for preservation.

I can't help but think of the brilliant body of work, Czech Eden, by Matthew Monteith. Monteith's photographs feel like modern day myths among the everyday. Ellicson's works seem mythological for plainly showing what is "everyday" in this part of Eastern Europe. He does for us viewers what he sets out to do for himself: "I want to personally savor this magical, peaceful place before it vanishes forever..."