Hermanovce: Four Seasons with the Roma by Jarret Schecter

The Globalist PhotoGallery

Hermanovce: Four Seasons with the Roma

Photographs by
Jarret Schecter

Edited by Francesca Sorrenti

Published by Trolley Ltd.

196 pages. Dimensions (in inches): 5 7/10 x 8 1/4

Order this book

Enter gallery

Hermanovce: Four Seasons with the Roma

Some call them gypsies, tinkers, travelers, or even outcasts — but they are all wrong. Their name is the Roma, a tribe that emanated from India centuries ago and brought to Europe a culture infinitely alien to the people who already lived there.

The Romani of Hermanovce reside on a small peninsula inside the Slovakian town’s borders. Yet psychologically, they are excluded from it. On this 100 by 30 meter space, about 350 Roma live in a maze of overcrowded, impoverished and plumbing-less shacks.

There, they are surrounded not only by the physical beauty of the natural landscape, but also by the inaccessible richness of the wealthy European lifestyle of their Slovak neighbors.

Despite a history of cultural exclusion, the Roma have preserved their traditions with a tenacity unmatched by Western cultures of church or state.

Photographer Jarret Schecter sought to document those traditions in “Hermanovce” — capturing the harsh paradox of Roma existence through photographs spanning the four seasons.

In the fall, the foreground of poor Romani in bright clothes is juxtaposed with scanty foliage in the empty vastness of the surrounding hills. In winter, the patched-together shantytown colorfully contrasts with the bleak surroundings of deadened-cold, white snow. Despite frigid temperatures, people are overheated by the obtrusively large wood-burning stoves in the overcrowded one room shacks.

In the spring, the thaw begins, but the clearing only reveals garbage and other debris strewn along the network of labrynthine alleyways. In the heat of summer, in which people are fully engaged in outdoor activities such as cooking and cleaning, there is the imagery of perhaps the ultimate paradox of active nothingness.

About Jarret Schecter

In 1990, Jarret Schecter purchased a professional Pentax camera and a passion was born. He decided to travel the world and just "take pictures" — but along the way he saw people living in unspeakable conditions of poverty. With his photography and through his books, Mr. Schecter tries to bring awareness to social injustices around the world.

In 2004, Mr. Schecter and several others founded The Denan Project (www.thedenanproject.com), a nongovernmental organization that deals with the plight of Ethiopian refugees.

His other projects include "Our World in Focus: Moving towards a Sustainable Future," "A Journey in Sight" and "Just Another Tragedy," a Denan publication that will be released in the fall of 2005.

Mr. Schecter lives in New York City.

About Francesca Sorrenti

Francesca Sorrenti has been involved in the arts for many years in a career that has spanned through fashion design, creative direction and photography. In addition to "Hermanovce," she has conceptualized, directed and edited "Our World in Focus: Moving Towards Sustainability" and "Water Culture" in partnership with Jean Michel Cousteau.

In 2003, Ms. Sorrenti created SKeGroup (info@skegroup.com) with Marisha Shibuya. SKeGroup is an environmental consultant for private, public and non-profit businesses. Their aim is to bring awareness to environmental, social and ethical issues through the arts by uniting photographers, writers and designers to work on special book projects.

A portion of the book sales benefits partnering foundations — and the books are used as educational and promotional tools for the foundations that SKeGroup represents.

Ms. Sorrenti lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Hermanovce: Four Seasons with the Roma | 2003

Let us know what you think ...

You must be a registered user of our site to send us your comments. If you have already registered, please log in. If you a new user of our site, please register now. Registration is quick, easy and completely free.

Complete the below to send a letter to the editor about this article.

Name

Email Address

City and State

Country

Comments

Please note: If we publish your comment on The Globalist, we will identify only your name, city and country. We do not publish anonymous comments. Your email address will not be published.

We regret that we cannot publish every comment we receive. Furthermore, because we review each comment before it is published, there may be a delay between the time you send your comment and its appearance on our site. The Globalist reserves the right to edit comments for style and length.


	Copyright © 2000-2010 by The Globalist. Reproduction of content on this site without The Globalist's written permission is strictly prohibited. Terms of Use \| Privacy Policy The Globalist claims full trademark rights to The Globalist name and logos. McPherson Square, 927 15th Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20005