Images of the Rom (not what you think... probably)

December 10, 2003 5:57 AM

Images of the Rom: the Rrom of Romania from an award-winning book by Yves Leresche; The Roma of Central and Eastern Europe by Raulf Bauerdick; David Dare-Parker's Roma - Gypsies of Romania (the second image in the set won "Best Feature Photograph" in the Walkley Awards); the Chergari Gypsies in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria (by Stacia Spragg - background here); and Itinerant Gypsies in Romania by Valeriu Campan. See also the photo-article, Challenging Segregation of Roma schoolchildren in eastern Hungary by Jason Orton (article continues at far right), and an eviction series by Ph.D. student Cosima Rughinis: the Rom in Pata Rat (dump site), Cluj-Napoca, Piatra Neamt, and Targu Mures, Romania. For some context on the last, view some text snapshots (under "issues of Roma Rights") of the situation from the European Roma Rights Center.
posted by taz (18 comments total)

I look forward to "Roma Responsibilities" in the future. That is, when responsible Roma leaders call for the discontinuance of cultural practices frowned upon by others.
Being a "good neighbor" means that you start.
posted by kablam at 6:11 AM on December 10, 2003

I look forward to "Roma Responsibilities" in the future.

Dude, you're going to get such a smack. You're not allowed to say that. Roma are like Palestinians-- they're poor, and anything repugnant that an oppressed group does is justified.
posted by Mayor Curley at 6:47 AM on December 10, 2003

New word of the day: Anti-Tziganism.
posted by CunningLinguist at 7:34 AM on December 10, 2003

Pictures of Romani in California, and more links from the American Gypsy documentary site.
posted by liam at 7:37 AM on December 10, 2003

Thank you, CunningLinguist! And thank you, liam - I was actually looking for some North American photo sites.
posted by taz at 7:42 AM on December 10, 2003

The music's good too. Balkanarama, a band from Seattle, plays Serbian and Romanian folk music.
posted by whatzit at 7:50 AM on December 10, 2003

Hungarian Gypsies at the beach
bling! bling! : )
posted by deboute at 8:14 AM on December 10, 2003

I screwed up on the last two Cosima Rughinis links: here's Piatra Neamt, and here's Targu Mures.
posted by taz at 8:18 AM on December 10, 2003

That guy must be really religious, deboute.
posted by MrMoonPie at 8:25 AM on December 10, 2003

I was in Romania this summer, with a bunch of other British people. I can confirm that the Roma are not popular with the Romanians (they even resent the fact the the two words are so similar).

Our host, a university lecturer in European Integration Studies, drew up in front of a "Gipsy Palace" in southern Transylvania - it might have been this one - and exclaimed gleefully, "Look, Brits, here are your taxes!".
posted by gdav at 8:32 AM on December 10, 2003

[this is good] - thanks taz

[more links/discussion here]
posted by plep at 10:04 AM on December 10, 2003

Excellent, taz! A positive follow-on to the recent MetaTalk discussion. Thanks for the great photos.

And thanks for the crosslink plep, I missed that post somehow!
posted by madamjujujive at 10:41 AM on December 10, 2003

oy, plep! I totally duplicated some of your links! I'm so sorry. But still - great minds, etc... Yes?
posted by taz at 10:47 AM on December 10, 2003

Yeah, great minds!! :)
Besides, the links are there to be viewed, so if it pushes a few more people that way, then so much the better.
posted by plep at 10:57 AM on December 10, 2003

Index on Censorship's 1998 issue 'Gypsies - Life on the Edge' was excellent, and deals with many of these themes in a lot of depth (including a sweet photo-essay of Appleby Horse Fair); take a brief look here (you can also buy it online).
posted by plep at 11:11 AM on December 10, 2003

gdav: (they even resent the fact the the two words are so similar).
You are right, and this is why:


whatzit, we are running into another "right word to use" problem. Romanian folk music is not necessarily gypsy music.

The most famous Romanian Gypsy singer was Romica Puceanu. I also have found some of her songs here (together with what is considered to be "classic" Romanian folk music).

The current trend in Romanian Gypsy music moves away from the traditional music (i.e. the one found on the Balkanarama's web site). Since several years the star is Adrian Simionescu (several samples 1, 2, 3 - mp3 files).
posted by MzB at 11:58 AM on December 10, 2003

Don't forget, of course, the legendary Django Reinhardt, who was a better guitarist with two fingers on his fretting hand than most will ever be with four...
posted by arto at 10:32 PM on December 10, 2003

Wow, thanks. I was just in Romania a few weeks ago. I've posted a few pix over at my photoblog site and I'll be posting more soon. It's an amazing place and I can't wait to go back.
posted by bradknapp at 6:28 AM on December 11, 2003