October means another meeting with Anastasia in my studio for her annual portrait. We started this project in October 2003, exactly 23 years ago. Since then, we’ve taken one portrait every October, so this year marks the completion of our 24th image. That’s 24 portraits spanning 23 years, from 2003 to 2026.
It all began in October 2003, when a very young Anastasia first walked into my studio. Back then, I took her portrait without a specific project in mind. By coincidence, she returned the following October, in 2004, and I took a second portrait, quite similar to the first. That was when we realized this could become a long-term project, and we decided to meet every October for as long as possible, repeating the portrait each year and gradually adding new images to the series.
Over the years, I’ve moved my studio three times and replaced my cameras and lighting equipment countless times, but one thing has remained the same, the chair Anastasia sits on. It’s a traditional Transylvanian chair I happened to buy in the 2000s. Amusingly enough, the chair appears only slightly in some of the photographs, but Anastasia and I both know it’s there.
One important detail about this project is that Anastasia has always been in charge of how she presents herself in the photographs. She chooses her own styling and makeup and selects the final image from the photographs I take. I handle the lighting, framing, and overall composition, but the person you see in each portrait is Anastasia as she chooses to present herself, on her own terms and according to her values. I believe this approach allows the photographs to reflect her journey from childhood to adulthood in a particularly honest way.
What began as a simple photographic portrait experiment has, at least in my eyes, gradually become a reflection on the passage of time, especially its emotional dimension. I find it fascinating how a series of seemingly simple portraits can document the effects of time so subtly.
As a side note, the most challenging photograph in the series was taken six years ago, in October 2020. As you may remember, our meeting that year was unusual because of the travel restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Because in-person meetings were impossible, we had to find another solution: a remote photo session with me in Bucharest and Anastasia in London, where she lives. Fortunately, that remained the only exception. Every other year, we’ve met in my studio, and the project has since returned to its natural course, face-to-face, just as it was always meant to be.
Please take a look at all the photographs from the series, below.
