Saints and Angels

• Prize
  Bronze in People/Culture
• Photographer
  Marian Plaino
• Technical Info
  Nikon D850, Nikkor 24-70 2.8
• Photo Date
  2021

Christmas is full of color in Maramures, Romania. The entire community gathers at church happy to see and to be seen with traditional costumes. Young girls on the balcony listened to the prayer between beautifully painted saints.

Since 1997, when I was 23 and still a student, I’ve been playing with photography — first as a passionate traveler capturing Romania’s beauty, later as a Math teacher, and eventually as a businessman developing, with my wife, a souvenir brand based on my photos. Today, I explore portraits, events, rural and street life worldwide, seeking real moments, authentic light, and honest emotion. For me, photography is a universal language — a way to tell stories through a single captured second.