Loneliness and Joy

Simple but complex,

Short but who knows where is the end,

Luminous but dark,

Lonely but not.

Loneliness and Joy is a long-term project exploring rural life during fast urban growth, shrinking populations, and cultural loss. It focuses on people who have chosen to stay or move to small, remote areas, living a simple life rooted in tradition and local history.

Many rural places today are changing quickly. Young people often leave to find education, work, or a city lifestyle. What remains are mostly older people and some kids who come on vacation. As a result, villages are getting smaller, and their culture and way of life are slowly disappearing. This decline affects not only the villages themselves but also the customs, values, and deep connections to the land that have been maintained for generations.

In these places, life moves slowly, closely connected to nature and old traditions. People find meaning in simple daily routines, solitude, and quiet observation. Among them: a shepherd from Florești, spending his days in the field, making a moody sheep his only concern; a woman who has never left her island of 250 inhabitants, finding it the most fascinating place on Earth and cherishing afternoons on the bench with her friends, talking about the times that passed; a man playing the flute and drinking schnapps at the same bar on Inisheer where his parents first met and married; and a man who grows potatoes in his garden, remembering how fun it was to dance, drink Guinness, and run barefoot through the village.

This project is a record of a way of life that is both documentary and poetic- asking important questions about what is lost when rural communities decline. In the end, Loneliness and Joy is about resilience and keeping traditions alive.

text: Ecaterina Rusu & Valeria Sokolova