Aga Luczakowska: Râsu’-plânsul—“laughing through tears”
Râsu’-plânsul—“laughing through tears”—is a Romanian phrase that reflects resilience, irony, and contradiction. It perfectly describes Bucharest, a city shaped by the collision of control and improvisation.
In the 1970s–1980s, Romania’s communist regime erased hundreds of villages and relocated people into rigid concrete apartment blocks—uniform structures designed for efficiency and obedience. But life refused to stay within those frames. Over time, balconies became greenhouses, facades were painted, gardens appeared between gray towers. Improvisation became survival. Messiness became a quiet rebellion against anonymity.
I began photographing these streets when I lived in Bucharest, working a corporate 9-to-5 job. With only a phone in my pocket, I captured quick, instinctive images during commutes—fragments of a city in transition. These images are imperfect and accidental, echoing the adaptations they depict. They embrace blur and asymmetry, rejecting the illusion of order.
Then, I stepped away from photography for several years to care for my mother living with dementia—a pause that changed my perspective. Today, I return with a renewed sense of purpose. This September, I will revisit Bucharest and continue this project with a camera, seeking to expand the work while staying true to its original spirit: unpolished, intuitive, and alive to the unexpected.
Why this work for Dear Dave? Dear Dave values unpredictability, imperfection, and originality—the very principles behind Râsu’-plânsul. This is not a project about perfection but about resilience. It asks: What happens when lives are forced into identical frames? And what beauty emerges when people reclaim those frames for themselves?
