Davin Ellicson

En route to a livestock market, Maramures, Romania

Davin Ellicson is a 30 year old American photographer based in Bucharest, Romania. Davin’s photographs of Romanian peasants will be featured in a forthcoming book called ‘East’ due out in May 2008 showcasing 17 photographers’ projects in Eastern Europe from the Anzenberger photography agency. His work from the Maramures series was chosen for American Photography 23 and screened in Arles, France at the Voices Off Fringe Festival.

About the Photograph:

“This photograph of peasants is from the village of Valeni in the Maramures region of northern Romania enroute to a livestock market in a neighboring town. Villagers meet on Thursdays to trade gossip, sell animals and enjoy themselves. I was 25, adventurous and in love with black and white film when I checked out of the modern world and lived with a family in Valeni, farming and photographing and savoring the last vestiges of European folk culture. I met the Nemes family in a field while they were making a haystack at the end of the summer and ended up staying for a year. Romania has since joined the European Union in 2007 and the youth from the villagers now spend most of the year abroad in Italy and Spain working itinerant jobs. The EU has strict agricultural regulations and the future of traditional life in Maramures is uncertain. There are now even plans to create commercial farms”.