Transylvania forms part of the EU’s eastern borderland, beyond which lies little before the vast expanse of the Black Sea. In this region, farmers still largely practice various forms of subsistence agriculture, although European funding and regulations are gradually altering these dynamics.

Migration has led to a serious depopulation of rural areas, where the continuity of farming traditions depends on the next generation stepping in to carry them forward.

Many Transylvanian villages now lie deserted, and a strange silence lingers over winding lanes and green pastures, broken only by the occasional creak of a horse-drawn cart being guided along a muddy path by an elderly farmer. The younger generation is still working hard—but not on the family farm or in the stables. They live in overcrowded apartments in Paris, Rome, and Madrid, scraping together every last euro in the hope of returning home to display their hard-earned success to those who stayed behind.

2002 - 2008, Romania