Red hands - Mugur Varzariu

As long as your interests happen to align with either of those goals, you’ll believe you’ve finally found the politician you’ve been waiting for.

You haven’t.

You’ve simply met a candidate.

Once the election is over, the real career begins: repaying debts. Debts to the party. To the inner circle. To those who cleared the path to power. The public interest becomes just one variable in an equation where the citizen barely matters anymore.

Politicians carry the weight of their compromises. Sometimes it slips through a forced smile. Sometimes through a grimace, an evasive glance, or an awkward silence.

In reality, we see none of it.

But what if we could?

This series imagines a world in which every act of corruption, every betrayal, every lie, and every life destroyed leaves the same visible mark: red hands.

Because there are stains that neither power, nor time, nor speeches can ever wash away.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu waves to supporters during his victory speech in Tel Aviv early Jan. 23, 2013, after Israel’s general election. His Likud-Yisrael Beiteinu alliance won about 31 seats in the Knesset. © Mugur Varzariu

Yasser Arafat, founder of the PLO, at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem in the late 1990s. © Mugur Varzariu

BUCHAREST, ROMANIA — December 1989: People celebrate the fall of the communist regime in Piata Romana, holding a manipulated image of Nicolae Ceausescu portrayed as a terrorist. © Mugur Varzariu

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, receives a kiss from Romanian Patriarch Daniel during a religious service in Bucharest, Romania, Oct. 27, 2017. The visit marked the first trip to Romania by a Russian Orthodox patriarch since the end of communism. Photo by Mugur Varzariu.

Controversial FCSB owner during a religious service in Bucharest, Romania, Oct. 27, 2017. The service marked the first visit to Romania by a Russian Orthodox patriarch since the end of communism. Photo by Mugur Varzariu.

BUCHAREST, ROMANIA – APRIL 23, 2018: Miron Cozma, the former miners’ leader of the 1990s linked to the violent Mineriads, attends celebrations marking Saint George’s Day. © Mugur Varzariu

Former Romanian King Mihai I, Prince Nicolae (centre) and Prince Radu (left) greet Mugur Isărescu, governor of the National Bank of Romania, in Bucharest on Oct. 25, 2012, during events marking the king’s 91st birthday, when he awarded royal honours to Romanian and international figures. Photo by Mugur Varzariu.

Retired Lt. Col. Alexandru Visinescu sits at his home in Bucharest, Romania, July 18, 2014. He is the first former prison commander to stand trial since the collapse of communism 25 years ago, facing charges of torturing and killing inmates deemed a threat to the former regime.

People attend a commemoration in Bucharest, Romania, Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2017, marking the extermination of thousands of Roma in Nazi concentration camps and in Transnistria. The date recalls Aug. 2, 1944, when about 3,000 Roma were killed in the gas chambers at Auschwitz, a tragedy Romania’s Foreign Ministry says younger generations must learn about as part of European history.

BAIA MARE, ROMANIA – July 6, 2011: Pise, a close associate of the mayor, responsible for intimidating and manipulating the Roma community in Baia Mare, attends a staged public meeting organized by Mayor Catalin Chereches. Photography by Mugur Varzariu

Catalin Chereches, mayor of Baia Mare, speaks with Roma residents in the Craica informal settlement during a visit on July 6, 2011, after pledging in his election campaign to segregate Roma communities. He later ordered a wall built around a social housing complex largely inhabited by Roma, citing alleged rock-throwing by children and traffic incidents, and proposed installing surveillance cameras and a police station to monitor the area.

Dacian Cioloș (centre) stands with the French ambassador after laying a wreath, lighting a candle and signing the condolence book outside the French Embassy in Bucharest, Nov. 15, 2015. The gesture followed coordinated attacks in Paris claimed by Islamic State militants, which killed at least 128 people at a concert hall, restaurants and the national stadium.

BUCHAREST, ROMANIA – March 27, 2022: George Simion, leader of the far-right Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), sings anti-Hungarian lyrics at an AUR afterparty following the party congress that reelected him as leader. Photography by Mugur Varzariu.

Reuven (Rubi) Rivlin, then speaker of the Knesset, gestures during a radio interview in Tel Aviv, Israel, Jan. 22, 2013, after early TV projections showed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leading in the general election.

BUCHAREST, ROMANIA – April 14, 2010: Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, invited by the newspaper “Puterea,” is welcomed by former Romanian presidents Ion Iliescu and Emil Constantinescu at the Diplomatic Club in Bucharest, just four days after the Smolensk air disaster that killed Polish President Lech Kaczyński and dozens of officials en route to a ceremony marking 70 years since the Katyn massacre. © Mugur Varzariu

BUCHAREST, ROMANIA - MAY 9: Presidential candidates Nicusor Dan, left, and George Simion during a live electoral debate ahead of the second round of the country's presidential election redo in Bucharest, Romania, Thursday, May 8, 2025. ©Mugur Varzariu

Romanian President Traian Basescu holds “the Flame of Democracy” during an electoral rally in Bucharest, July 26, 2012. Romanians were to vote July 29 in a referendum on his impeachment, pushed by Prime Minister Victor Ponta and his left-wing parliamentary allies over Basescu’s support for austerity measures, prompting European Union concerns about Romania’s respect for democratic institutions.

Traian Basescu at Cotroceni Palace during a private interview for Der Spiegel, April 18, 2013.

Pope Francis departs after celebrating Mass at the Marian shrine in Sumuleu Ciuc, Romania, Saturday, June 1, 2019. The visit was part of a three-day pilgrimage that followed St. John Paul II’s historic 1999 trip, the first papal visit to a majority Orthodox country.

Klaus Iohannis, opposition presidential candidate, reacts after exit polls in Bucharest, Romania, Nov. 16, 2014, showed him winning the second round of the presidential election. Prime Minister Victor Ponta, long seen as the favorite, conceded defeat after early results put him level with the conservative challenger in a vote seen as key for a country struggling with entrenched corruption.

Mircea Geoană speaks at the Social Democratic Party congress in Bucharest, Feb. 20, 2010.

Former Romanian King Mihai I presents royal distinctions to local and international figures during a ceremony marking his 91st birthday in the Kings Hall at Elisabeta Palace in Bucharest, Oct. 25, 2012. © Mugur Varzariu

Marian Vanghelie talks on his phone during the Social Democratic Party congress in Bucharest, Feb. 20, 2010.

Elena Udrea attends the PDL party congress in Bucharest, March 23, 2013, where President Traian Băsescu announces his resignation as party leader. Photography by Mugur Varzariu.

Mircea Geoană speaks at the Social Democratic Party congress in Bucharest, Feb. 20, 2010.

Ion Iliescu at the Social Democratic Party congress in Bucharest, Feb. 20, 2010.

Marian Ceausescu, an informal pro-government activist, carries a cake to celebrate after exit polls are released in Bucharest, Romania, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2019. The IRES independent think tank’s poll showed incumbent Klaus Iohannis easily winning a second term in the presidential election.

Adrian Năstase at the Social Democratic Party congress in Bucharest, Feb. 20, 2010.

BUCHAREST, ROMANIA – Dec. 30, 2024: Independent presidential candidate Calin Georgescu, winner of the first round of the annulled election, arrives at the Bucharest Court of Appeal after challenging the cancellation of the vote and filing complaints against several leading politicians. © Mugur Varzariu

Elena Băsescu, daughter President Traian Băsescu, attends the PDL party congress in Bucharest, March 23, 2013, where her father announces his resignation as party leader. Photography by Mugur Varzariu.

Yasser Arafat, founder of the PLO, at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem in the late 1990s. © Mugur Varzariu

BUCHAREST, ROMANIA – March 10, 2018: Liviu Dragnea (R), leader of the ruling Social Democratic Party (PSD), waits for official results during the party congress to elect vice presidents and an executive president. Photography by Mugur Varzariu

BUCHAREST, ROMANIA – March 10, 2018: Prime Minister Viorica Dăncilă (left) and PSD leader Liviu Dragnea leave the hall after results are announced at the party congress to elect vice presidents and an executive president. Photography by Mugur Varzariu.

The Dalai Lama leaves the Umaid Bhawan Hotel in Jodhpur, India, Feb. 10, 2011. The Tibetan spiritual leader was staying at the former royal residence as a guest of Gaj Singh during his first visit to the city, when he delivered a series of lectures on Feb. 9–10, 2011.

BUCHAREST, ROMANIA – March 10, 2018: Gabriela Firea, mayor of Bucharest, exist stage after results are announced at the party congress to elect vice presidents and an executive president. Photography by Mugur Varzariu

Ion Iliescu at the Social Democratic Party congress in Bucharest, Feb. 20, 2010.

Klaus Iohannis, presidential candidate of the Christian Liberal Alliance (ACL), attends a campaign rally in Ploiesti, Romania, October 2014. The 55-year-old ethnic German mayor ran as the joint candidate of the liberal PNL and liberal-democrat PDL, challenging Social Democratic Prime Minister Victor Ponta in the November presidential election.

People at the Social Democratic Party congress in Bucharest, Feb. 20, 2010.

Petre Ignatencu, leader of the New Romanian Communist Party and a former canoeist now working as a taxi driver, joins the Cuban ambassador and party members at their improvised headquarters to mark Che Guevara’s birthday in Bucharest, June 14, 2014. The gathering comes 25 years after Romania’s 1989 revolution, in which more than 1,000 people were killed and over 3,000 wounded nationwide as protests against Nicolae Ceausescu’s regime erupted, with Bucharest’s University Square becoming a symbol of the uprising.

Orthodox Archbishop Teodosie holds Mass before throwing three crosses into the Black Sea to be retrieved by volunteer swimmers during an Epiphany service in Constanta, Romania, Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022. More than 200,000 bottles were filled with holy water as Orthodox Romanians celebrated Epiphany in the Black Sea port city.

Retired Lt. Col. Alexandru Visinescu leaves the apartment block where he lives in Bucharest, Romania, accompanied by a friend, July 18, 2014. He was due to go on trial July 24, 2014, the first former communist-era prison commander charged with torturing and killing inmates considered a threat to the former regime.

U.S. Ambassador to Romania Hans G. Klemm leaves the military parade in Bucharest, Romania, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2019, marking 101 years since the formation of the modern Romanian state. Crowds braved temperatures of 3 degrees Celsius to watch troops, tanks and military vehicles.

Former presidents Emil Constantinescu (left) and Ion Iliescu attend a military parade marking Romania’s National Day in Bucharest, Dec. 1, 2015.

Tudor Melescanu and other officials attend a military parade in Bucharest, Romania, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2019, as thousands mark 101 years since the creation of the modern Romanian state. Crowds braved temperatures of 3 degrees Celsius to watch troops, tanks and military vehicles.

Dan Barna and other officials attend a military parade in Bucharest, Romania, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2019, as thousands mark 101 years since the creation of the modern Romanian state. Crowds braved temperatures of 3 degrees Celsius to watch troops, tanks and military vehicles.

ROMANIA, Bucharest – Nov. 12, 2014: Opposition presidential candidate Klaus Iohannis shakes hands with Prime Minister Victor Ponta during their second televised debate ahead of the Nov. 16 runoff election.

BUCHAREST, ROMANIA – March 10, 2018: Irina Tănase, partner of PSD leader Liviu Dragnea, takes a selfie with Prime Minister Viorica Dăncilă (right) while waiting for results to be announced at the party congress to elect vice presidents and an executive president. Photography by Mugur Varzariu.

BUCHAREST, ROMANIA – March 7, 2025: Independent presidential candidate Călin Georgescu, backed by the moderate-nationalist AUR party, and his wife, Cristela Georgescu, wave to supporters after registering his candidacy at the Central Election Bureau in Bucharest. © Mugur Varzariu

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