TITLE: bear-man

In Moldova, which is a part of Romania, there is a custom to say goodbye to the old year and greet the new one. This custom is still practised on the last day of the year. The men of means of the village dress up in bear fur. Each bear is led by an other person in order to form a pair. They gather at the end of the village and than parade through the whole village meanwhile more and more people join them. This is the way they celebrate the New Year.

AUTHOR: Erdély Bálint Előd (Romania)

Előd Bálint Erdély was born in 1976, in Odorheiu Secuiesc and already in the beginnings of the ’90s, he started to deal with the art of photography. In 1995 his photos were exhibited for the first time and this milestone is considered as the starting point of his professional career as a photographer.
After graduating at the János Bányai Technical High School in Odorheiu Secuiesc, between 1999−2004 he worked as a cameraman at the local television. This experience provided a solid foundation for shaping his view on how responsive he percieves different topics. From this point on, his way of expression, as a mixture of his own interests and the subjects of the outside world, started to evolve. At the same time, he also started experimenting with the beauty of the body as a theme.
In 2002, he received the second prise in the section of art at the photography contest organised by the Playboy magazine. Obtaining this prise helped him realising his first individual exhibition in his hometown. He is also interested in off-studio photography, as well as in anthropocentric themes, which he preferably likes working on since then.
The genre of sociophotography is also an area which is very dear and close to him. Either from personal motives or by taking part in different photocamps (since 2001 he has attended 15 events held in Transylvania), he often takes photos mainly of the villages’ everyday life in order to preserve them for posterity. When a particular topic engages his focus, he returns back from time to time, even for days, sometimes for months, to work on it. No matter what, it can be a person, a life story, a traditional craftsmanship or a marginalised place – if the photographer from Odorheiu Secuiesc finds it inspiring, he tirelessly carries out the final result. Between 2003−2004 he received a grant provided by the National Cultural Fund of Hungary for artisticly immortalising of the Szekler villages’ current state.
Beside his activity in art photography, in the beginnings of 2000 he started working in the production of feature films. Having gained useful knowledge in conenction with experiencing the intimacy of the camera had a great influence on him. This impact could also be the reason why Előd Bálint Erdély as an artist cannot be clearly labelled as a representative of any art movements.
Finding and keeping the balance between acquiring a livelihood and being an artist is considered as one of the greatest challanges of his professional career. For more than 10 years he has been trying to earn a living for himself and for his family by maintaining his own studio that produces and sells product and advertisement photos of premium quality.
Előd Bálint Erdély
He was born in 1976, in Odorheiu Secuiesc.
He regularly takes part in the photocamps organised by the Cultural Center of Harghita County, and he is also the studio photography teacher of the photography courses held by the same institution.
Between 2003−2004 he received a grant provided