by Sebastian Vasiu 

Felicia Simion is a most talented Romanian photographers and probably one of the youngest in her country.  She was awarded with many prizes in diverse photography contests or salons since 2010 until now. Her photographs were printed as book covers by several writers world wide. One of the most famous written by Paulo Coelho has Felicia's image “Como el rio que fluye” as cover. This was a great achievement and recognition for Felicia since Coelho’s book was spread in more the 150 countries.

Let us discover Felicia's work, from conceptual to fine art and read more about this charming artist photographer in the story below.

“Steam train tales”

When I'm not wearing my camera, I'm wearing my eyes - with them I make continuous observations , finding myself in a permanent quest, never getting tired of watching the world. I was born in Craiova, in 1994, and I've always dreamed about creating. I spent my childhood painting, singing, dancing, writing, and when I was 13, I discovered photography; it was as if it had always been there. I attended the National University of Arts in Bucharest, Photography and Video department, and currently I am pursuing a master degree in Ethnology, Cultural Anthropology and Folklore at the Faculty of Letters in Bucharest, where I am developing some newer passions, which go hand in hand with my older love: photography.

“Romanian ballad”

“Grandmother”

To be honest, I don't really know where it came from - I simply woke up with it fully conquering my soul. I have always loved everything connected with visual arts, which would flutter my imagination and, with the help of a brush or a crayon, would bring me to new, unexplored before places. Somehow, photography took the place of my tiny artistic childhood explorations, becoming something that I would want to follow for the rest of my days (actually, my parents were pretty shocked one day when I was 13, I woke up and confessed to them that I knew what I would do in this life - photography, that was it).

So far I have explored a bit of many genres (portrait, street, conceptual, landscape etc.), but I have utterly fallen in love with fine art and documentary photography, two distinct areas which I wish to explore in the future. On one hand, I love the real, the way it surprises me every time, and on the other hand, I cannot give up on the imaginary, which also has its roots in the daily life. I would love to photograph people and their ways of life, scenes which are more or less usual, to capture at least a tiny part of their soul, lay it inside the image and further inspire the viewer.

“Siblings”

“My father's coat”

I believe that personal style is something that develops at the same time with my own ripening, which is a long, continuous project. That is why I find it hard to define myself; all I know is that I love to experiment with various areas in photography - sometimes I need a lot of colour and eclecticism, while other times I look for monochromy and unity.

“Magrittean immersion”

“The match”

To me, photography is yet another language of artistic expression, of evoking inner feelings, of researching certain questions regarding the world, a way through which I can contemplate and wonder at the visible and the invisible. I long to connect photography with other visual arts, I am often inspired by painting and graphics and I hope that in the future, through film, I can exploit both - words and sound - inside the picture.

“Self-portrait on a planet with cotton...”

“Flux”

I don't find myself in a measure to define what is and what is not artistic, but conceptual photography is something that intrigues me, because it allows me to use a greater number of creative resources. To make such an artwork, I have to firstly ask myself a question, and then research upon it, look at it through various angles, so that in the end I will create a photograph which will leave room for new questions. It is more about the initial idea and the process, things that are at least of the same importance as the artwork itself.

“The doppelganger”

Among the Romanian photographers whom I follow and am inspired of are Hajdu Tamás, Alina Negoiță, Meyrem Bulucek, Bogdan Gîrbovan, Michelle de Rose, Ioana Cîrlig, Marin Raica, Vlad Eftenie (vladeftenie). Among the international ones, both classical and contemporary, I could name Sebastião Saglado, Steve McCurry, Sally Mann, Henri-Cartier Bresson, Alex Webb, Edward Burtynsky, Alec Soth, Elizaveta Porodina, Julia Margaret Cameron etc.

I believe there are many ways of exploiting artistic photography, among which: participating to competitions, collaborations with various art domains (literature, music), selling prints or being published in photography magazines.

I have been using for some time a Canon 7D, with lenses such as: 50mm f/1.8, 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6, 17-35mm f/2.8 or 70-200mm f/4. There are times when I find it necessary to take with me a fixed, a wide and a zoom lens, but many times I prefer to limit myself to maximum two lenses, so that I can look for the best shot only with what I've got.

The next project I am catching up will result from a residency I undertook this summer in Deauville, France, which will materialize itself into an exhibition during the photography festival Planches Contact in October. The project is a fine art one, which combines self-portrait with urban landscape elements and surrealism.

Each day, each moment, I'm realizing how many things I still want to do through photography.
Keep your inner light going.

“Lola”

“Julia”

“The road”

“Headless coat”

“Gonna build a mountain”