Bogdan Mihai
Houston based photographer Bogdan Mihai is a recent immigrant to the USA from Romania. He received his degree in journalism, and spent many years working in Romanian television, and freelance photography and video production in The Emirates, New Zealand, the USA and Russia. Since moving to Texas in 2015, he has opened his own freelance video production and photography business here in south Texas, called Buburuza Productions.
In Motion / Impressions
words by John Bishop
As a fine artist, Bogdan generally works with strong narratives and place, and has explored various themes over the years. Two of his series, In Motion and Impressions, deals specifically with his new life in Texas. Architecture as symbol is a common theme in Bogdan’s work, and it was no surprise that he explored that concept again in his new environment.
Bogdan realized the huge impact that being an immigrant was having on his life and his work. There was indeed a lack of connection there, and what at first appeared to be an aberration, soon became an essential element of the story for this work.
When someone displaces himself completely, and is faced daily with all the cultural, emotional, and practical differences of living in a foreign land, even the most mundane experiences become strange. All those unconscious and routine activities become oddly difficult, confusing, and forced. Bogdan was experiencing culture shock, and as he was searching for symbols that had been recognizable to him before, they now seemed somehow altered, somehow blurred. The lens he thought he was turning onto his new home, was actually focused back on him. The disconnection he felt and saw in his photographs was not an impediment to the story, it was the story.
So, what would your home, your neighborhood, or your life look like if everything suddenly looked different? In Motion and Impressions are experiments in chronicling that immigrant experience. The series explores and celebrates the life and movement of downtown Houston. And through all the fuzziness, they represent a place that is full of life, vibrant color, motion, and hope for immigrants.