Once Romania joined the European Union, in 2007, the whole prison system went through major revamp and the biggest reform was to introduce the right to private visits.

This means that a prisoner who is married or in a relationship has the right to receive, every three months, a two-hour private visit which takes place in a separate room inside the prison compound.

Plus, if a prisoner gets married in detention he or she can spend 48 hours with the spouse in the special room and is allowed visits once a month in the first year of marriage.

I started photographing the private rooms in 2008 and until now I photographed private rooms inside all Romanian penitentiaries (35 penitentiaries).

About the Awards

The Sony World Photography Awards is the world’s biggest photography competition and its aim is simple: to recognise and reward the best contemporary photography in the world.

The awards have brought untold reward and recognition to those involved and each year offers an incredible $30,000 (USD) in cash prizes plus the latest Sony digital imaging equipment.

Free to enter, photographers of all abilities are invited to submit either their best single shots or series of work.  The images are judged by the World Photography Organisation and a specially selected jury from the World Photographic Academy which is made up on the photographic industry’s most esteemed individuals.

The awards offer an unparalleled opportunity for exposure for photographers at all stages of their career and are known worldwide by industry leaders.

The annual awards gala and ceremony takes place in London, welcoming an international attendance of industry leaders to celebrate the recognition of the best in contemporary photography and each year also pays tribute to one of our masters with the Outstanding Contribution to Photography Award. Supporting the celebration is an exhibition of the winners and shortlist, comprising of hundreds of photographs expertly curated inside the historic London landmark, Somerset House.

The Competitions: 

The Sony World Photography Awards has five competitions:

• Professional – 15 categories, judged on a series of images, aimed at serious photographers
• Open – 10 categories, judged on a single image, open to all)
• Youth – 3 categories, for photographers aged 19 and underStudent Focus – for those studying photography)
• Mobile Phone – for images taken with any mobile phone

In addition it runs the National Awards programme in 47 countries, looking to find the best single shot taken by a photographer from that country.

The awards offer categories across all genres of photojournalism, fine art and commercial photography.  The categories include: current affairs; nature & wildlife; arts & culture, portraiture; contemporary issues; sport; landscape; still life; lifestyle; architecture, and more.

The 2015 edition attracted over 173,000 entries from 171 countries and winners will be announced on 23 April.  In addition to cash prizes for the overall Professional and Open Photographers of the Year, category winners also receive the latest digital imaging equipment from Sony and Sony Mobile.

Pentru câştigarea premiului la categoria Arhitecture, fotograful român a fost recompensat cu o cameră foto vârf de gamă Sony Alpha A7S.

O parte din imaginile din seria „Intimate Room” (trad. „Camera Intimă”) pot fi văzute la expoziţia Sony WPA de la Somerset Gardens din Londra, care va fi deschisă în perioada 24 aprilie -10 mai.