Dried Dill. April 2025, Chester, UK. Photograph unframed, Giclee Print 60x80cm, Work in progress, inspired by the preparation of the Chester Photo Festival, May 2025.
“This photograph is a gaze through the lens into my family pantry. Seasonal still life objects and arrangements that may foretell the coming traditions, time of the year, family habits and personal choices. Green dill hung to dry in April for later use in October to make sauerkraut, alongside a Romanian tradition Sweet Walnut Bread, and a champagne ready for the next special occasion, are just a few objects that portray some of my personal insights. This arrangement of ordinary objects often changes, based on involuntary choices and daily family routine, constantly creating new displays and, for me, potential photographs. Later in the year, once the dried dill is used up, we may have white wine for summertime, and crepe and pasta pans will be back in their place.
Feelings are those of speaking through photography openly about myself, embracing who I am. What was hidden and personal has become visible only through my photography practice. This is no longer hidden; it is displayed in a public gallery, an album, and a public window. From now on, it is an image that can be seen again and again, despite the actual setting in the pantry changing. It is a new work in progress; there will be new feelings to explore until the work is completed.”
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At home, every dinner is a celebration. Sept 2024, Chester, UK. C-Type Photograph on Fuji Matt, 8 x 6 inch.
“This photograph, from my family cookbook, captures both the ingredients of a unique moment and the essence of family time. For me, as I believe is the case for many others, there are moments when I feel that I have to take the picture. It is rather a brief moment of wonder in my ongoing life experience, my photography reaction, a moment that I would like to see again, photographically, as soon as the photograph is ready. It was taken while preparing dinner at home and now serves as a documentation way of photographing my private, ordinary and everyday objects, where everyone and everything has its own meaning, collectively contributing to our sense of familiarity“
Pate:
- Use organic ingredients:
- (1) 400g chicken liver (soak in cold water for 30 minutes with 2 tsp Celtic salt), dry it of water;
- 25g unsalted butter + 30g coconut oil, ½tsp thyme (cimbru), ½tsp pepper, 2 garlic cloves, fry the liver for 10 minutes, medium heat;
- (2) Let the liver rest covered for 20 minutes.
- (3) Separate, stir at medium heat for 10 minutes:
- 200g chopped onion;
- 150g chopped red pepper;
- 4 garlic cloves;
- 150g chopped carrots;
- 40g unsalted butter, 20g olive oil;
- 1 tsp Celtic salt, 2 tsp hot chilli powder, 1 tsp black pepper;
- (4) Then add the liver and simmer for another 15 minutes;
- (5) Blend everything in a mixer with 3 fresh garlic cloves;
- (6) Finally, add 3 tbsp mustard and 5 tbsp Greek yoghurt;
- Taste when cold and adjust salt, yoghurt, or hot chilli as needed to your liking.”
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I used to climb and steal cherries. Sept 2024, Chester, UK. Two photographs printed on 260gsm Fuji Matt, 8 x 6 inches each.
I am re-reading the book Childhood Memories by Ion Creangă. The main character climbed the neighbour’s cherry tree to steal the fruit, just as I did many times as a child. Today, I am with my daughter, while she listens to my stories and learns about similar adventures from the book. She is taking this picture, helping me re-enact the act of climbing the cherry tree. Although no fruit was found in the tree, the story, the action, and taking the picture remain alive in our memories.
The next day, just a few streets away, I happened to find a shopping trolley next to another cherry tree. There are a few of them in the area, but it’s a different way to play. Now, with these two images placed side by side, I reflect on the concept of time and memories – how two images merge to create a particular narrative, representing my personal stories, habits, and childhood memories that can differ across generations.
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Admiration and repulsion. 2013, London, UK. Photography transfer on lithographic aluminium plate, printed orange, grey and white. Phototransfer on aluminium lithographic plate. Printed on 33×22 inch 290 gsm Fabriano Rosapina paper in three colours.
“This is a portrait of a statue. It represents an early moment in developing my practice, as I questioned subjectivity and objectivity in my work and why my perception and thoughts of the same subject often change through the creation process. For three days, I exhibited a different colour each day. The exam assessors have seen the portrait on different days and, therefore, in different colours. (Discussing the work: ‘Did you see Alex’s orange work? What orange, because it was dark grey or barely seen as white? It was during the assessment that they found out that there were three different colours.
The feelings were of admiration, frustrations, unknown, constant questioning of my work, going through stages of ups and downs, actions taking and reactions as a creative process, and it was the slow media process that offered the time to make it that helped me to reflect and find when the work was completed and how to present it. Finally, I realised that the work is how I perceive it, and it happened that others had experienced it similarly to me, but at all times, it was myself in search of what I was looking at, why, and why through photography.
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Alexandru Modoi 