BAIA MARE, ROMANIA - JUL 8: Roma kids, helping the adults clean the staircases of a social housing complex, in Baia Mare, July 8, 2011, as instructed by the mayor. ©Mugur Varzariu
LONEA, ROMANIA - APR 14: Miners are trying to re-couple two wagons full of coal after one derailed at the Lonea coal mine on April 14, 2021. © Mugur Varzariu for Newsweek.
LIVEZENI, ROMANIA - APR 22: Costinas (L), Trestian Umberto, and Ursu V-tin are waiting for the personnel train to take them 3 km closer to their work posts underground at Livezeni colliery on April 22, 2021. © Mugur Varzariu for Newsweek
POTOCARI, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA - JUL 11: Emina Hajdarević (68 years old, L) one of the Mothers of Srebrenica that her 16 years old son, whom she never found and her husband and Sabera Duraković (age 60), who lost two brothers and her husband, at the Srebrenica Memorial on July 10, 2022. © Mugur Varzariu for Newsweek.
EFORIE SUD, ROMANIA - SEP 29: Memet Ali (L), Memet Ebru, Iaia Leila and Iaia Geana, Roma of Turkish origin seeking cover under an improvised shelter to protect from heavy rain, in Eforie Sud, Romania, on September 29, 2013. On Friday 27, 2013, local authorities in Eforie Sud, Romania, proceeded to forcibly evict more than 60 turkish Roma families, leaving almost 60 children, mostly under 10 with no shelter, facing extreme weather conditions and lack of food. © Mugur Varzariu
BAIA MARE, ROMANIA - SEP 23: Romanian kids of Roma origins playing, on Craica, an informal Roma settlement in Baia Mare, on September 23, 2011. Some of these settlements, like the one on Craica, date back to early 90's. They where always tolerated by the authorities who orally encouraged Roma to build in the area while giving reassurance that nothing bad would ever happen to them. Yet, today, while campaigning on a hate ticket, the same authorities are planning forced evictions without other reasons than ethnic cleansing of the cities. © Mugur Varzariu
COMANESTI, ROMANIA - DEC 30: Troupe of bears performing during the twentieth edition of a local festival attended by hundreds in Comanesti, northern Romania, Wednesday, Dec. 30 2015. In pre-Christian rural traditions, dancers wearing colored costumes or animal furs, toured from house to house in villages singing and dancing to ward off evil, in the present the tradition has moved to Romania's cities too, where dancers travel to perform the ritual for money. © Mugur Varzariu
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - OCT 10: People playing headers and volleys on the beach of Leblon and Ipanema in Rio de Janeiro on October 10, 2015. © Mugur Varzariu
BUCHAREST, ROMANIA - MAY 19: A zealot party member passes a chair over the head of Elena Basescu, the daughter of Romanian president Traian Basescu, to let her pass, at the Democratic Liberal Party National Convention in Bucharest, May 19, 2011. © Mugur Varzariu
BUCHAREST, ROMANIA - NOV 7: People raise their hands and shout slogans against politicians during the fifth day of protests in Bucharest, Romania, on Saturday, November 7, 2015, calling for better governance and an end to corruption. Nine more people died on Saturday, bringing the death toll to 41 victims, a week after the Oct. 30 blaze that erupted at the Colectiv nightclub during a heavy-metal concert. © Mugur Varzariu
BUCHAREST, ROMANIA - DEC 16: Honor guard gently loads the coffin of the late Romanian King Michael into the mortuary car during the funeral ceremony, with the Romanian patriarch Daniel (M) in the background, outside the Romanian Patriarchy in Bucharest, Romania, on Saturday, December 16, 2017. Thousands waited in line to pay their respects to Former King Michael, who ruled Romania during WWII and died on December 5, 2017, aged 96, in Switzerland. © Mugur Varzariu
HERASTI, ROMANIA - APR 4: Romanians visit a cemetery during a Palm Sunday memorial for the departed in Herasti, southern Romania, late Saturday, April 4, 2015. Orthodox believers in the village gather at midnight, light fires at the graves and share food in memory of their dead relatives. © Mugur Varzariu
MARZA, ROMANIA - FEB 18: Simion Filotia, age 77, attend to her nephew Denis Alexandru (7 months), in Marza on February 18, 2013. In today's Romania there are many barriers facing Roma in access to health care, including structural disadvantages resulting from the operation of general policies and administrative practices such as the
disproportionate exclusion of Roma from health insurance; barriers to access to health care and other disparate impacts on the health of Roma stemming from continuing discrimination in other areas such as education, housing and employment, as well as from discriminatory practices by health care practitioners. © Mugur Varzariu
LIVEZENI, ROMANIA - APR 20: Umberto Trestian (L) and Cosmin Podina (R), Miners at the end of their shift, resting for a few moments before heading to the showers at Livezeni colliery in Valea Jiului, on April 20, 2021. © Mugur Varzariu for Newsweek.
VULCAN, ROMANIA - APR 04: Dallas, an important neighborhood in Vulcan on April 04, 2021. © Mugur Varzariu for Newsweek
CURTEA DE ARGES, ROMANIA - FEB 20: The communist flag hangs out the window of Gheorghe Ungureanu's apartment and party headquarters inside his apartment in Curtea de Arges on February 20, 2014. He founded the party on March 10, 1996, but the Court refused to accept the registration. Ten years later, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in his favor, accusing Romania of violating the right to free association. In 2014, Romania commemorates 25 years since the 1989 revolution, which brought down Nicolae Ceausescu's dictatorship. The countrywide struggle against Ceausescu's regime erupted on December 21, when a speech by Ceausescu in front of the Central Committee of the Communist Party was interrupted by jeers from the crowd. People stayed on the street and started fighting. More than 1,000 died, and over 3,000 were wounded all over Romania. Piata Universitatii in Bucharest became one of the symbols of the revolution. © Mugur Varzariu
BUCHAREST, ROMANIA - JUN 14: Petre Igntencu's image is reflected in a framed picture of Che Guevara at the end of the commemorations marking the birth of Che Guevara in Bucharest on June 14, 2014. In 2014, Romania commemorates 25 years since the 1989 revolution, which brought down Nicolae Ceausescu's dictatorship. The countrywide struggle against Ceausescu's regime erupted on December 21 when a speech by Ceausescu in front of the Central Committee of the Communist Party was interrupted by jeers from the crowd. People stayed on the street and started fighting. More than 1,000 died, and over 3,000 were wounded all over Romania. Piata Universitatii in Bucharest became one of the symbols of the revolution. © Mugur Varzariu
SUCEAVA, ROMANIA - APR 23: Sferlic Clara, a Romanian of Jewish origins, born in Capu Campului in 1935, survivor of the deportations in Transnistria (Mogilev), in Suceava on April 23, 2015. © Mugur Varzariu
BUCHAREST, ROMANIA - OCT 26: People, right after kissing, press different objects and icons against metal casings said to contain holy remains, including those of Saint Dimitrie Bassarabov, the patron saint of the Romanian capital, on the first of three days of pilgrimage. This event took place at a much smaller scale than usual due to the pandemic control measures imposed in Bucharest, Romania, on Sunday, Oct. 26, 2020. Romania's Orthodox Church had an unusually harsh reaction after the government attempted to ban the largest pilgrimages in Romania due to the growing number of COVID-19 cases. Romania's daily tally of coronavirus infections rose above 5,000 for the first time last week, and patients in intensive care units also reached a new high. © Mugur Varzariu for Newsweek.
BUCHAREST, ROMANIA - JUN 22: Two members of the LGBT community kissing during the gay pride parade in Bucharest, Romania, Saturday, June 22, 2019. People taking part in the gay pride parade in the Romanian capital demanded more rights and acceptance for same-sex couples. © Mugur Varzariu
SUMULEU CIUC, ROMANIA - MAY 19: Hungarians from all over the world attending the early pilgrimage hold at Sumuleu Ciuc in Romania, as seen on May 19, 2018. Sumuleu Ciuc became a pilgrimage site in 1567, when Hungarian king John II Sigismund Zápolya wanted to convert the Székely population of the upper Csík to Protestantism. The Székelys refused to abandon the Catholic faith and resisted. A battle took place on a nearby field, on Saturday before Pentecost 1567, from which the Székelys emerged victorious. The monks saw this as a sign of the care of Virgin Mary, and since then, this event has been commemorated by a pilgrimage when the believers gather on Pentecost every year. Beside its religious importance, the pilgrimage has also become a community event demonstrating spiritual unity of Hungarian people living in and outside the historical region of Transylvania. © Mugur Varzariu
LEZAJSK, POLAND - MAR 19: Ultra Orthodox jews gathered during their pilgrimage to the grave of Reb Elimelech of Lizhensk in Lezajsk on March 19, 2017. In his lifetime Reb Elimelech was known as a spiritual giant, whose genuine love for his fellow Jew was beyond compare. Since his death, thousands have braved the frigid Polish winters to pray at his grave, with many pointing to their pilgrimage as the source of miracles and salvations that have come their way. © Mugur Varzariu
SUMULEU CIUC, ROMANIA - MAY 19: Hungarians from all over the world attending the early pilgrimage hold at Sumuleu Ciuc in Romania, as seen on May 19, 2018. Sumuleu Ciuc became a pilgrimage site in 1567, when Hungarian king John II Sigismund Zápolya wanted to convert the Székely population of the upper Csík to Protestantism. The Székelys refused to abandon the Catholic faith and resisted. A battle took place on a nearby field, on Saturday before Pentecost 1567, from which the Székelys emerged victorious. The monks saw this as a sign of the care of Virgin Mary, and since then, this event has been commemorated by a pilgrimage when the believers gather on Pentecost every year. Beside its religious importance, the pilgrimage has also become a community event demonstrating spiritual unity of Hungarian people living in and outside the historical region of Transylvania. © Mugur Varzariu
SUMULEU CIUC, ROMANIA - MAY 19: Hungarians from all over the world attending the early pilgrimage hold at Sumuleu Ciuc in Romania, as seen on May 19, 2018. Sumuleu Ciuc became a pilgrimage site in 1567, when Hungarian king John II Sigismund Zápolya wanted to convert the Székely population of the upper Csík to Protestantism. The Székelys refused to abandon the Catholic faith and resisted. A battle took place on a nearby field, on Saturday before Pentecost 1567, from which the Székelys emerged victorious. The monks saw this as a sign of the care of Virgin Mary, and since then, this event has been commemorated by a pilgrimage when the believers gather on Pentecost every year. Beside its religious importance, the pilgrimage has also become a community event demonstrating spiritual unity of Hungarian people living in and outside the historical region of Transylvania. © Mugur Varzariu
SUMULEU CIUC, ROMANIA - MAY 18: Hungarians from all over the world attending the early pilgrimage hold at Sumuleu Ciuc in Romania, as seen on May 18, 2018. Sumuleu Ciuc became a pilgrimage site in 1567, when Hungarian king John II Sigismund Zápolya wanted to convert the Székely population of the upper Csík to Protestantism. The Székelys refused to abandon the Catholic faith and resisted. A battle took place on a nearby field, on Saturday before Pentecost 1567, from which the Székelys emerged victorious. The monks saw this as a sign of the care of Virgin Mary, and since then, this event has been commemorated by a pilgrimage when the believers gather on Pentecost every year. Beside its religious importance, the pilgrimage has also become a community event demonstrating spiritual unity of Hungarian people living in and outside the historical region of Transylvania. © Mugur Varzariu
BUCHAREST, ROMANIA - APR 21: Models and designers backstage during the annual fashion week in Bucharest on April 21, 2017. © Mugur Varzariu
PIATRA, ROMANIA - AUG 15: A man taking care of goats does push-ups on the side of the road in Constanta county, on the way to Carcaliu, on August 15, 2013. Radu Dogaru, has admitted to stealing famous artworks from the Kunsthal museum in Rotterdam last year. Romanian officials say Mr. Dogaru sent the stolen paintings, by Picasso, Monet and other modern masters, to Romania through an accomplice. ©Mugur Varzariu
Marian Dinu, owner of the Romania's oldest ferris wheel 'Roata Mare', gestures while talking, in Bucharest on April 28, 2014. The city hall issued a 72 hours eviction notice claiming the ferris wheel is no longer safe to operate without considering any alternatives like refurbishment, relocation or preservation. © Mugur Varzariu
MAMAIA, ROMANIA - JUL 30: A child leans on a lifebuoy on the shore of the sea in Mamaia, July 30, 2013. © Mugur Varzariu
SUMULEU CIUC, ROMANIA - MAY 19: Hungarians from all over the world attending the early pilgrimage hold at Sumuleu Ciuc in Romania, as seen on May 19, 2018. Sumuleu Ciuc became a pilgrimage site in 1567, when Hungarian king John II Sigismund Zápolya wanted to convert the Székely population of the upper Csík to Protestantism. The Székelys refused to abandon the Catholic faith and resisted. A battle took place on a nearby field, on Saturday before Pentecost 1567, from which the Székelys emerged victorious. The monks saw this as a sign of the care of Virgin Mary, and since then, this event has been commemorated by a pilgrimage when the believers gather on Pentecost every year. Beside its religious importance, the pilgrimage has also become a community event demonstrating spiritual unity of Hungarian people living in and outside the historical region of Transylvania. © Mugur Varzariu
BUCHAREST, ROMANIA - APR 21: Models and designers backstage during the annual fashion week in Bucharest on April 21, 2017. © Mugur Varzariu
BUCHAREST, ROMANIA - APR 20: Models and designers backstage during the annual fashion week in Bucharest on April 20, 2017. © Mugur Varzariu
ORADEA, ROMANIA - MAR 20: Elisabeta Steuer (L), 91 and her husband Ladislau, 94 (R), at their home in downtown Oradea on March 20, 2015. Both survivors of the Holocaust, Ladislau was deported to a Mauthausen labor camp in Hungary while Elisabeta survived in a ghetto in the Romanian village of Ginta. They have been married for 66 years. © Mugur Varzariu
BUCHAREST, ROMANIA - APR 21: Models and designers backstage during the annual fashion week in Bucharest on April 21, 2017. © Mugur Varzariu
JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - APR 29: People outside the church of the Holy Sepulcher, in Jerusalem on April 29, 2019. Thousands of Christians are expected in Jerusalem on April 30 for the ancient fire ceremony that celebrates Jesus' resurrection. © Mugur Varzariu
AL HRAK, SYRIA - MAR 25: Demonstrators from Al Hrak and Kherbet Ghazalah block the highway to Daraa in protest of the killings of five of their members on March 25, 2011. On March 23, at least 15 people were shot dead by security forces in the city of Daraa, approximately 100 km south of Damascus. Subsequently, the Governor of Daraa was dismissed and the Syrian government resigned. However, these measures failed to halt the protests, as more cities joined the demand for the abolition of emergency law, freedom for political prisoners, and the punishment of those responsible for the killings. © Mugur Varzariu
BUCHAREST, ROMANIA - JUL 26: Romanian President Traian Basescu holds "The Flame of Democracy" as he speaks during an electoral rally in Bucharest July 26, 2012. Romanians will vote on July 29 in a referendum regarding the impeachment of Romanian President. Prime MInister Victor Ponta and his majority left-wing parliamentary coalition push for Basescu's removal from office over his support for austerity measures. The EU has called into question Romania's respect for democratic institutions, following the centre-left government's attempt to impeach conservative Traian Basescu. © Mugur Varzariu
BUCHAREST, ROMANIA - MAY 12: Former King Michael I of Romania, seen through a window, at the end of a Garden Party ceremony marking King's Day at the Elisabeta Palace, the official residence of the Royal Family in Bucharest, on May 12, 2011. A lawyer for Romania's 89-year-old deposed king says the former monarch has decided to sever his family's ties to an ancient German royal dynasty that gave Romania its royal family more than a century ago. Ex King Michael signed a decree ending "historic and dynastic links" with the House of Hohenzollern, which gave Romania its first king, Carol I, who was crowned in 1881. © Mugur Varzariu
COMANESTI, ROMANIA - DEC 30: Troupe of bears performing during the twentieth edition of a local festival attended by hundreds in Comanesti, northern Romania, Wednesday, Dec. 30 2015. In pre-Christian rural traditions, dancers wearing colored costumes or animal furs, toured from house to house in villages singing and dancing to ward off evil, in the present the tradition has moved to Romania's cities too, where dancers travel to perform the ritual for money. © Mugur Varzariu
BUCHAREST, ROMANIA - DEC 14: People fishing in Herastrau, a natural lake situated in the northern part of Bucharest, on December 14, 2012. Hundreds of kilograms are collected daily to be sold to local fish markets as the lake is slowly freezing, making net fishing virtually impossible. © Mugur Varzariu
MAMAIA, ROMANIA - AUG11: Models backstage at a fashion presentation at Yaki hotel in Mamaia on August 11, 2017. © Mugur Varzariu
Carmen, a 10 years old Roma girl, in front a social housing complex, in Baia Mare, July 14, 2011. © Mugur Varzariu
TRANSFAGARASAN, ROMANIA - SEP 23: The Transfagarasan or DN7C is the second-highest paved road in Romania, September 23, 2012. Built as a strategic military route, the 90 km of twists and turns run north to south across the tallest sections of the Southern Carpathians, between the highest peak in the country, Moldoveanu, and the second highest, Negoiu. The road connects the historic regions of Transylvania and Wallachia, and the cities of Sibiu and Pitesti. ©Mugur Varzariu
POJEJENA, ROMANIA - APR 22: Valentin Anoca, weighting 245 kg, uses his horse wagon, while performing community work as part of his social aid contract, in Pojejena, almost 500 km west of Bucharest, on April 22, 2013. Valentin is scheduled to receive a stomach sleeve procedure mid May 2013.
ROMANIA – JANUARY 27: Air view of the snowed in areas in the South Eastern part of Romania, taken from a MAI helicopter delivering humanitarian aid to the isolated people in the city of Lehliu on January 27, 2012. Snow as deep as 4.5 meters isolated areas of Romania, Moldova and Albania, and helicopters and army trucks were used to deliver food and medicine, and to transport sick people to hospitals. © Mugur Varzariu
BAIA MARE, ROMANIA - SEP 21: Romanian of Roma origins hugs a withe horse, on Craica, an informal Roma settlement in Baia Mare, on September 21, 2011. © Mugur Varzariu
BAIA MARE, ROMANIA - MAY 2: Tivadar Alex Ilie (left) looks by as Varga Zoro Alexandru, Varga Ionel and Jiga, romanians of Roma origins, dig for coper wires on Craica, an informal Roma settlement in Baia Mare, facing forced evictions, May 2, 2012. Between 20 to 30 dwellings where demolished recently, their previous inhabitants being among the first to be relocated on Cuprom. On May 11, the mayor, campaigning on the hate ticked, set in motion the eviction and demolition plans. © Mugur Varzariu
EFORIE SUD, ROMANIA - SEP 29: Cherchez Onur, a Roma kid shelters himself from the rain with an improvised plastic cover pulled over the few belongings they were able to salvage before demolition, in Eforie Sud on September 29, 2013. On Friday 27, 2013, local authorities in Eforie Sud proceeded to forcibly evict more than 60 turkish Roma families, leaving almost 60 children, mostly under 10 with no shelter, facing extreme weather conditions and lack of food. © Mugur Varzariu
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - OCT 24: Crack addicts in a slum called Cracolandia in Rio de Janeiro on October 24, 2015. © Mugur Varzariu
BUCHAREST, ROMANIA - FEB 8: The people protesting in front of the government headquarters against the government's contentious corruption decree in Bucharest, Romania, on February 8, 2017. Romania's government formally repealed contentious corruption legislation that has sparked the biggest protests since the fall of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu in 1989, ministerial sources said. The emergency decree, announced on Tuesday (January 31, 2017), would have decriminalized certain corruption offenses, raising concerns in Romania and outside that the government was easing up on fighting graft. Centre-right President Klaus Iohannis, elected in 2014 on an anti-graft platform, previously had called the decree 'scandalous' and moved to invoke the constitutional court. © Mugur Varzariu
BUCHAREST, ROMANIA - DEC: Princess Margaret of Hohenzollern, daughter of former Romanian King Michael, touches his coffin at the former royal palace in Bucharest, Romania, on Friday, December 15, 2017. Thousands waited in line to pay their respects to Former King Michael, who ruled Romania during WWII and died on December 5, 2017, aged 96, in Switzerland. © Mugur Varzariu
Bratara, a Romanian witch of Roma origins performs a magic ritual meant to help the little girl escape from a powerful curse, by feeding her a pigeon's heart straight from the chest of the bird, in Bucharest on February 20, 2013. © Mugur Varzariu
EFORIE SUD, ROMANIA - OCT 7: Mariana Ion (M) and other Roma people of Turkish origins, in Eforie Sud on October 7, 2013. Regardless international pressure to stop such practices, local authorities continue to forcibly evict the remaining Roma people, two weeks after the initial displacement. On Friday 27, 2013, local authorities in Eforie Sud proceeded to forcibly evict more than 100 turkish Roma people, leaving almost 60 children, mostly under 10 with no shelter, facing extreme weather conditions and lack of food. © Mugur Varzariu
BUCHAREST, ROMANIA - MAY 19: President of Romania, Traian Basescu followed by the media, gets in the elevator at the Democratic Liberal Party National Convention in Bucharest, May 19, 2011. © Mugur Varzariu
HERASTI, ROMANIA - APR 23: Woman reacts at the grave of her late husband during a Palm Sunday memorial for the departed in Herasti, southern Romania, late Saturday, April 23, 2016. Orthodox believers in the village gather at midnight, light fires at the graves and share food in memory of their dead relatives. © Mugur Varzariu
JODHPUR, INDIA - FEB 10: The Dalai Lama seen leaving the Umaid Bhawan Hotel in Jodhpur, February 10, 2011. Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama was the guest of the erstwhile ruler of Jodhpur Gaj Singh and is staying in the royal residence Umaid Bhawan Palace. This is the first visit of the spiritual leader to Jodhpur, during which he delivered lectures on different subjects on February 9 and 10, 2011. © Mugur Varzariu
Buzias, Romania - August 7: Civilians are enjoying the mineral water swimming pool in Buzias after it was cleaned earlier in the year by the kids from the YRC. The swimming pool was prepared for the season with the help of inmates from the Youth Reeducation Center. As a growing social phenomenon, many Romanian children commit suicide or end up in youth reeducation centers due to being left unattended by parents working abroad in search of a better life. Laurentiu served a sentence of almost 2 years and was released early for good behavior. © Mugur Varzariu
BUCHAREST, ROMANIA - FEB 1: Romanian riot police clashed with protesters during a demonstration against controversial decrees aimed at pardoning corrupt politicians and decriminalizing other offenses in front of the government headquarters in Bucharest on February 1, 2017. At least 200,000 people hit the streets across Romania on February 1, 2017 for anti-government protests, the largest since communism fell in 1989, media reports said. © Mugur Varzariu
BUCHAREST, ROMANIA - FEB 1: Romanian riot police clashed with protesters during a demonstration against controversial decrees aimed at pardoning corrupt politicians and decriminalizing other offenses in front of the government headquarters in Bucharest on February 1, 2017. At least 200,000 people hit the streets across Romania on February 1, 2017 for anti-government protests, the largest since communism fell in 1989, media reports said. © Mugur Varzariu
LEZAJZK, POLAND - MAR 18: Ultra-Orthodox Jewish pilgrims visit the grave of Reb Elimelech of Lizhens, praying and feasting at the end of Shabbat, in Leżajsk on March 18, 2017. In his lifetime, Reb Elimelech was known as a spiritual giant, whose genuine love for his fellow Jews was beyond compare. Since his death, thousands have braved the frigid Polish winters to pray at his grave, with many pointing to their pilgrimage as the source of miracles and salvations that have come their way. © Mugur Varzariu
BUCHAREST, ROMANIA - AUG 24: People attending the Green Sounds festival in Bucharest on August 24, 2018. © Mugur Varzariu
LEZAJSK, POLAND - MAR 17: Ultra-Orthodox Jews praying before Shabbat during their pilgrimage to the grave of Reb Elimelech of Lizhensk in Lezajsk on March 17, 2017. In his lifetime, Reb Elimelech was known as a spiritual giant, whose genuine love for his fellow Jews was beyond compare. Since his death, thousands have braved the frigid Polish winters to pray at his grave, with many pointing to their pilgrimage as the source of miracles and salvations that have come their way. © Mugur Varzariu
BUCHAREST, ROMANIA - MAR 20: Daily life in a food market in Bucharest, Romania, Thursday, March 20, 2014. The twenty-ninth FAO European Regional Conference (ERC) and the thirty-eighth session of the European Commission on Agriculture (ECA) "Conference Week" will be held at the Romanian Palace of Parliament in Bucharest, Romania, from March 29 to April 04, 2014. © Mugur Varzariu
BUCHAREST, ROMANIA - APR 19: Jewish people, ambassadors, other officials, and guests celebrating Israel's 70th Independence Day at the Coral Temple in Bucharest, Romania, Thursday, April 19, 2018. © Mugur Varzariu
IASI, ROMANIA - OCT10: A group of priests leading the procession accompanying the relics of Saint Parascheva in Iasi, October 10, 2010. © Mugur Varzariu
CELIC-DERE, ROMANIA - APRIL 13: Believers attend the eve service of Saint Mary at Celic-Dere Monastery on August 14, 2010. © Mugur Varzariu
CELIC-DERE, ROMANIA - APRIL 13: Nun attend the eve service of Saint Mary at Celic-Dere Monastery on August 14, 2010. © Mugur Varzariu
BUCHAREST, ROMANIA - FEB 8: People protest in front of the government headquarters against the government's contentious corruption decree in Bucharest, Romania on February 8, 2017. Romania's government formally repealed contentious corruption legislation that has sparked the biggest protests since the fall of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu in 1989, ministerial sources said. The emergency decree, announced on Tuesday (January 31, 2017), would have decriminalized certain corruption offenses, raising concerns in Romania and outside that the government was easing up on fighting graft. Centre-right President Klaus Iohannis, elected in 2014 on an anti-graft platform, previously had called the decree "scandalous" and moved to invoke the constitutional court. ©Mugur Varzariu
PITESTI, ROMANIA - NOV 12: Underage girl, former victims of human trafficking go on with daily activities in a shelter in Pitesti on November 12, 2017. © Mugur Varzariu
BUCHAREST, ROMANIA - SEP 13: Construction workers attending different jobs on the National Cathedral site, in Bucharest on September 13, 2018. The People's Salvation Cathedral (Romanian: Catedrala Mantuirii Neamului) is an Orthodox cathedral under construction in Bucharest that is meant to become the patriarchal cathedral of the Romanian Orthodox Church. It is the tallest and largest Orthodox church in the world by volume. It is the largest Eastern Orthodox church in the world by area, according to the full church criterion, and the second in the world including the partial church criterion. Or the third in the world by area including the Oriental Orthodox church criterion. It is located in central Bucharest on Spirea's Hill (Arsenal Square), facing the same courtyard as the Palace of the Parliament the heaviest building in the world, the cathedral having the tenth part of its weight. The standard ground level of the People's Salvation Cathedral above the Black Sea is 86.2 meters. At 135 meters, the cathedral holds a dominant position in Bucharest's cityscape and is visible from all approaches to the city. © Mugur Varzariu
BUCHAREST, ROMANIA - SEP 2: Parkour athletes performing their stunts in Bucharest on September 2, 2019. © Mugur Varzariu
BUCHAREST, ROMANIA - DEC16: Members of the most prestigious royal families say their goodbyes at the end of the funeral ceremony in tribute to late Romanian King Michael in Bucharest, Romania, Saturday, Dec.16, 2017. Thousands waited in line to pay their respects to Former King Michael, who ruled Romania during WWII, and died on Dec. 5, 2017, aged 96, in Switzerland. © Mugur Varzariu
BUCHAREST, ROMANIA - DEC16: Members of the most prestigious royal families say their goodbyes at the end of the funeral ceremony in tribute to late Romanian King Michael in Bucharest, Romania, Saturday, Dec.16, 2017. Thousands waited in line to pay their respects to Former King Michael, who ruled Romania during WWII, and died on Dec. 5, 2017, aged 96, in Switzerland. © Mugur Varzariu
JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - FEB 8: Families celebrate Bar Mitzvah in front of the Western Wall in Jerusalem on February 8, 2018. ©Mugur Varzariu
JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - FEB 8: Families celebrate Bar Mitzvah in front of the Western Wall in Jerusalem on February 8, 2018. ©Mugur Varzariu
BAILE HERCULANE, ROMANIA - OCT 4: People enjoying thermal baths in Herculane on October 4, 2021. © Mugur Varzariu
COSTESTI, ROMANIA - SEP 08: Romanians of Roma origins attending the traditional ethnic Roma festival in Costesti, 210 km (128 miles) west of Bucharest, September 8, 2022. Every year thousands of Roma from across Romania celebrate Saint Merry Day by gathering at an open field located between Costesti and Bistrita for a couple of days of feasting, dancing and business dealings. © Mugur Varzariu
BUCHAREST, ROMANIA - MAR 27: George Simion, the leader of the far-right party Alliance for the Union of Romanian, attending the AUR afterparty following the the first party congres that reelected him as the party leader in Bucharest on March 27, 2022. ©Mugur Varzariu
VAMA VECHE, ROMANIA, APR 28: Tens of thousands of people of all ages and from all over Romania come together to the Black Sea coast to celebrate May 1st. Usually, for two days, people drink, smoke and party without sleeping. © Mugur Varzariu
BUCHAREST, ROMANIA - DEC 18: Troupe of bears from Dofteana performing on the streets of Bucharest, Sunday, Dec. 18 2016. A woman called the cops on them and for more than half an hour nobody gave them any money. In pre-Christian rural traditions, dancers wearing colored costumes or animal furs, toured from house to house in villages singing and dancing to ward off evil, in the present the tradition has moved to Romania's cities too, where dancers travel to perform the ritual for money. © Mugur Varzariu
ALBA IULIA, ROMANIA - DEC 01: George Simion, the leader of the far-right AUR party, boards at Barabant station, the train rented by the party, to transport supporters from Bucharest to Alba Iulia for Romania's National Day on December 1, 2023. ©Mugur Varzariu
BUCHAREST, ROMANIA - FEB 26: Acrobat at the circus in Bucharest on February 26, 2015. ©Mugur Varzariu
PORTO, PORTUGAL - APRIL 13: Students of Tuna Academica da Faculdade de Economia do Porto performing on the streets of Porto on April 13, 2023. ©Mugur Varzariu
BALI, INDONESIA - JUL 31: Balinese people playing football on Jimbaran beach in Bali on July 31, 2022.
BUCHAREST, ROMANIA - APR 14: Supporters of the Rapid team react in the stadium during the derby against Dinamo in Bucharest on April 14, 2013. © Mugur Varzariu
BUCHAREST, ROMANIA - FEB 26: People spending the night at the circus in Bucharest on February 26, 2015. ©Mugur Varzariu
CONSTANTA, ROMANIA - JAN 06: On this day, orthodox Archbishop Teodosie holds Mass before throwing 3 crosses into the Black Sea, to be retrieve by voluntary swimmers, during a religious service in Constanta, Romania, Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022, on the day marking the celebration of Epiphany. More than 200 thousand bottles were filled with holy water in the Black Sea port of Constanta as Orthodox Romanians celebrated epiphany on January 6. © Mugur Varzariu
BALI, INDONESIA - AUG 4: Balinese people playing football on Jimbaran beach in Bali on August 4, 2022.
POSITANO, ITALY - SEP 7: Bride to be and her bridesmaids in Positano on the Amalfi Coast in on September 7, 2023. ©Mugur Varzariu
BALI, INDONESIA - AUG 2: Little girl on Jimbaran beach in Bali on July 31, 2022. © Mugur Varzariu
NAPLES, ITALY - SEP 9: People sunbathing on a disused beach in Naples on September 9, 2023. © Mugur Varzariu
NAPLES, ITALY - SEP 9: People sunbathing on a disused beach in Naples on September 9, 2023. © Mugur Varzariu
SIMIAN, ROMANIA - OCT 3: Filip Marek (R) and his wife Terezie Marek Valcikova having enjoying the thermal baths in Herculane on October 3, 2021. © Mugur Varzariu
BAILE HERCULANE, ROMANIA - OCT 4: People enjoying thermal baths in Herculane on October 4, 2021. © Mugur Varzariu
BUCHAREST, ROMANIA - MAY 29: Alexander White (R), a 19 years old drag queen from Cluj Napoca, hosting as an MC the 2018 Mister Gay Romania competition, in Bucharest On December 14, 2018. © Mugur Varzariu
BUCHAREST, ROMANIA - MAY 29: Woman watching herself in the mirror during the Woman on Matasari festival in Bucharest on May 29, 2016. © Mugur Varzariu
BUCHAREST, ROMANIA - FEB 26: People spending the night at the circus in Bucharest on February 26, 2015. © Mugur Varzariu
Mugur Varzariu
Concerned photographer and human rights activist stubbornly revisiting stories of disenfranchisement
“For me, in order to visit a community, it’s not aesthetics that matter but rather the abuses. I’m not there to take a picture, but to report an injustice.” Mugur Varzariu
With extensive experience in marketing and strategy, a graduate of the Academy of Economic Studies and holder of an EMBA, armed with legal studies and the ability to write, at the age of 40, Mugur Varzariu dedicated himself to documentary photography.
From the outset of his career, through assignments in Syria, Tunisia and Egypt, Romanian born photographer Mugur Varzariu understood the role of his trade, and made the decision that shaped the future of his photography.
“I could either follow everyone else or follow my conscience,” he explains. “I felt the impact of my pictures on one hand, and the suffering of the people I was photographing on the other. So I had to find another way to navigate.”
Consciously choosing not to jump from one story to the next, he sought out stories that remained untold and delved deeper into his subjects than the superficial contact the industry normally allows. Deciding instead to tell the stories of those left behind, the unrepresented ones existing forgotten, ignored on the edges of our societies. Roma communities, prostitution, human trafficking, abandoned children, the elderly, obesity, Holocaust survivors and post communist era social issues have all been explored in Varzariu’s work.
My first exhibition at Visa pour l'Image
After four nights of screenings, this year I had my first photography exhibition as part of the prestigious International Photojournalism Festival Visa pour l'Image in Perpignan, France.
Loving Colours
The Loving Colours Association, founded in late 2017, was created to fight for justice by challenging the segregation wall in Baia Mare and representing Roma families from Eforie Sud, forcibly evicted in 2013. In 2023, the association secured €150,000 and social housing for six individuals from Eforie Sud. A year later, in 2024, it achieved a landmark victory with a final court ruling to demolish the segregation wall on Horea Street in Baia Mare.