Banat is a strange place in the south-western Romania, close to its borders
with Serbia above the Danube River. It is interesting in the way that the people
here speak Czech fluently. From about 1820, a group of Czech people lives here,
which then, lured by the promises of better living, started to settle the most
southern border of Austrian empire. Today, these people live by “the
traditional way of life”, they earn a living by working on their fields, they
plough using horses, hens run about the garden, and everyone has a cow or two.
Once a week, they go to a little town nearby called Moldovita to sell milk and
curd and buy let’s say a piglet right from the boot of an old Dacia. An
essential part of their lives is their deep belief in Jesus Christ, apparent in
every step. Sometimes, especially in summer, a coach full of Czech tourists
arrives; in 2008, approximately 7000 tourists came to visit. The tourists stay
overnight, eat some local produce, drink some local liquor, pay and move on. The
locals stay. Their children go to school and learn Czech language, when they
turn eighteen, they move to the Czech Republic. Their children go to Romania to
their grandparents for holidays. Only the elders stay and live their simple life
full of labour and tiny joys on and on. Most of them are nice and communicative;
they like to share their experience with you. They know where Brno, Ostrava,
Plzeň or Cheb is. They hug you goodbye and look forward to your next visit.
Photographs from Banat, Romania were taken during several visits in 2008 and
2009. I mostly used my favourite SLR camera Nikon with three manual lenses of
focal lengths of 28, 35 and 105 mm. The enlargements were made using the
classic wet way in the dark room on a bromine-silver paper. Strict using of the
full area of the cine-film frame without cut-off or any other adjustments adds
authenticity to the pictures.
I’d be glad if my view of Banat interests you.
Photos / Dalibor Bednář / Landscapes / Nudes / People / Towns / Stories....
Dalibor Bednář, Josefa Skupy 1641/17, 708 00 Ostrava-Poruba, Czech Republic, tel. +420 602 531 763,