About romarising
romarising makes visual the ideal that the human spirit can, despite prejudice and denial, rise to its level of ambition and excellence. Stereotyping causes us to overlook the dedicated among minorities, people of talent and courage, who succeed on society's own terms. Here is a selection of more than one hundred Romani citizens of the Czech Republic, who take part in a substantial and growing middleclass and professional class. They resist systematic discrimination every day from birth, hurdle undeserved setbacks, constantly face down danger. These people are among the best anywhere, and often are better at what they do than their majority-culture counterparts. All face constant struggle to remain "successful."
romarising counters the widely-held view that "gypsies" merely play music, wear folkloric costumes, wander the country, with little plan for the future. Not thought possible to exist, they lead lives rich of accomplishment, while remaining connected to their culture. Each is worthy of the admiration of all who aspire to a just and open society. In the words of Abraham Lincoln, these brave souls represent the "better angels of our nature."
The black-and-white portraits in this series reduce the psychological experience to its fundamental. An often ordinary context is intentional. This is a manner in which the Roma are seldom presented in the media, they address us with respect and dignity, we are allowed an authentic interaction.