Elections 2019

2019 presidential elections held no surprises.

Klaus Iohannis, the current Romanian president ran a safe campaign, did no major mistakes and won his second term.

PSD, in between terms tried to attack the first position by setting their communication agenda around the invitation to a presidential debate. Unfortunately for them, this strategy while, very juicy, can not determine anyone to change their current voting option. The attempt to re-position their candidate as a victim (the woman facing unfair attacks) was a little more effective in mobilizing their own electorate to vote. Yet, it’s very difficult to vote for someone known for her grammatical slips of the tongue and a crybaby.

Early on November 10, 2019 I snapped a few images with Klaus Iohannis, as a conclusion to my 2014 documentary when I covered most of his first presidential campaign.

On the night of the first term I decided to pay a visit to the only candidate with an academic and philosophic background.

It was my first visit to PMP headquarters, the party that was supporting this candidate. As I entered the building, on the right there was a secretary office. I introduced myself and I asked if they would allow me to take some pictures with the candidate, Mr. Theodor Paleologu, while waiting for the exit polls to be announced.

They refused so I left thinking that was not meant to be. I had my car parked in Piata Romana, a long way from their headquarters. By the time a reached my car I decided to give it another try. This time I parked just across from their campaign headquarters.

As I go in for the second time I sow someone coming down the stairs from the first floor. I presumed he was part of the staff so I followed him into the front garden. As I was going to introduce myself he said he knows who I am and asked me if I want to take some pictures.

As I enter the campaign office I am greeted by Mr. Mihai Gyka. He know me, first and foremost, as the founder of Trout and Partners in Romania.

These are a few images I snapped that day.

Support the work
Show your support by choosing one of the donation plans available.

Two weeks later, on November 24 I followed both candidates casting their final vote. Late in the afternoon I went to the PSD headquarters on Kiseleff. The only thing that struck me were the thousands of crows hanging on the trees and flying over the place. The cows made by them was covering the sound of the cars passing by. It was like a scene from a Hitchcock movie.

The last few before the exit polls I was at the PNL headquarters on Aleea Modrogan. Some of the staff members that remembered me from the 2014 campaign allowed me to take a few pictures inside the ‘war room’. They also said that Iohannis wants only his photographer present for the exit polls announcement.

As the president returns from the stage after the results were announced, he looks at me and says: “You took many pictures of me in 2014 and I only saw 5 of them”. For a brief second I wanted to reply “What can I do if you wanted them for free?” Instead I replied “Quality over quantity, isn’t this what you should teach the young liberals Mr. President?”

The first words of the just re-elected president were a reproach instead of a hello. The president that got pictures from me during the campaign (for his social media communication), that personally asked me at Cotroceni in January 2015 to thank me for the impact they had, was upset I did not gave those pictures away for free for his so called second volume “Step by Step” joke of a book.

 

Share this story with the world :