A young Gypsy girl. The girl who held my hand
Tinca was just outside Oradea, Romania, a place that separated itself from the world or rather a place that the world pushed away. We came to a stop and as the blinker clicked we entered into what was known to be a gypsy village. As soon as we turned down the dirt road dozens and dozens of children ran toward the van. They were running along side and screaming and shouting things that I had yet to understand. I felt a sense of excitement and ironically enough a sense of sadness. We pulled off the road and were told to not take any bags or valuables off the vehicle. I pulled my camera across my body and secured it around my neck.
Gypsy kids all lined up
We slowly opened the doors and immediately the children clung on to me yelling “Buna!” and “Pose’!”. I learned quickly from our interpreter that they were saying ‘hello’ and ‘we want a picture.’ We walked through out their village greeting the old and hugging the young. As we walked, more and more people were coming out of cardboard homes and makeshift huts. The children reeked of smells I could barely breathe in and they looked like they hadn’t bathed in weeks. One of them grabbed my hand and escorted me as we continued to walk. She held on to me as if she was telling me never to leave. I could tell because the dirt that had been embedded on her hands held me rough and tightly. I’ll never forget that.
Pose’!
We came to the place where vast fields and hills were among us. This is where we played with the gypsy children for hours. I can’t remember a time where I laughed and smiled and felt so many emotions all at once. They were beautiful and lively and although they didn’t have much, they generously gave in heart and in spirit. I came to a moment where I could hardly contain the beauty and innocence of a children, of a culture, of a life that had been shunned for many years because of their ancestral past. Gypsies were known to be thieves and liars and no credibility. And here I was looking in to the eyes of children that were only going to inherit what was generationally passed down to them, what was expected of them to become. It was then that I looked at this moment and only wanted to preserve what I had seen, what I first hand experienced with these people, life, love, hope and more joy in a few hours than most people might experience in a lifetime.
Credits
All Photographs & Text © Crystal Azua
Crystal Azua Photographer Bio 
I am currently a freelance photographer based in Hollywood, CA specializing in Landscape, Portrait and Travel Photography.
I have such a passion for Photography and seeing and feeling things in such a different way, most people can’t or are not willing to understand.
For the most part, I usually pick up the camera for my self because it’s something I love and find so much freedom in. However, I also have a dream to do what I love and impact as many people I can while doing it; whatever that may look like. I pride myself in being as vulnerable as I can when taking pictures and I know that if I can just change the way one person sees things, I’ve done what my heart has always wanted.
These are pictures the way I see life and I aspire one day they change the way you see.
Blog / Website: www.crystalazua.com
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