Maria Gutu
Homeland
Leica Oskar Barnack Award Newcomer Winner 2024
From the series Homeland
© Maria Gutu
Courtesy of Leica Oskar Barnack Award
From the series Homeland
© Maria Gutu
Courtesy of Leica Oskar Barnack Award
The Moldovan photographer’s personal story was the starting point for her touching portrait series: she grew up with her grandparents, because her own parents – like many others in her homeland – had to move abroad for economic reasons. In the last twenty years, nearly a quarter of the small country’s population have left. Guțu’s poetic and visual narrative asks about the meaning of roots and of home, which have changed significantly over the years.
The series was proposed for the LOBA Newcomer Category – directed at photographers up to 30 years in age – by Docdocdoc, School of Modern Photography, St. Petersburg
From the series Homeland
© Maria Gutu
Courtesy of Leica Oskar Barnack Award
From the series Homeland
© Maria Gutu
Courtesy of Leica Oskar Barnack Award
From the series Homeland
© Maria Gutu
Courtesy of Leica Oskar Barnack Award
Statement MARIA GUTU:
“I travel a lot to Moldova’s villages. The quiet places and people inspire me with their simple and natural way of life, connection with the land and animals. I identify with the children and teenagers I photograph: they experience the same reality of emigration of their parents, as I did. My work itself evokes a nostalgic yearning for family, the past, and simply life itself.”
MARIA GUTU was born in the Republic of Moldova in 1996. She graduated from the Docdocdoc School of Modern Photography, St. Petersburg, in 2022. Previously she had completed studies of Film at the Academy of Music, Theatres and Visual Arts in Chișinău, Moldova. In 2019 she received a grant from the CDFD (Centre of Documentary Photography), Bucharest, Romania. In 2020 she was a finalist for the People Photography Award of The Independent Photographer. She has been a member of Women Photograph since 2021. She has already received numerous international nominations and her work has appeared in a number of group exhibitions.
The winner of the main prize is Davide Monteleone.
Further information about this year’s winners is available at: