The series “Still Here” was created out of a personal fascination with real events from the past, in which the lives of certain individuals were radically altered by specific moments, decisions, or the social context in which they lived. The destinies of those who were forced to hide in the mountains and forests in an attempt to resist the communist repression drew my attention precisely because of this sudden transformation: ordinary people pushed into clandestinity, torn away from their former lives and compelled to exist in a state of permanent uncertainty. Their determination to remain free became a defining element that reshaped their entire existence.

The analog-styled landscapes in this series do not depict the exact places where they once hid, yet their atmosphere allows me to suggest a lingering presence within the space. The fog, dense vegetation, and the silence of the mountains and forests create an environment that evokes notions of transition, isolation, and disappearance. These images serve as a kind of visual layer onto which memories or fragments of existence can be projected—traces that are difficult to define, yet perceived as potentially real.

The visually recontextualized archival photographs carry a completely different weight. Some capture moments from the period of hiding, while others come from interrogations, or even from immediately after those targeted by the secret police were killed. They bring back to the viewer faces and fragments of lives transformed by time, inviting reflection on life, death, the moment when the soul separates from the body, and what may remain beyond it.

By combining landscapes with archival material, I propose a perspective on how certain places can retain an immaterial presence. The mountains and forests become silent witnesses to the lives that passed through them, and the images function as a medium through which these traces can be reconsidered and reinterpreted.