Five Years Later — Fire, Loss, Distance, Growth

It’s been over five years since I last wrote something like this. I never considered blogging to be a primary focus of my life—but it was always a way to offload, to make sense of things as they happened.
January 2020 was the last post I made here. We all know what happened next.

But before I get into the pandemic years, there’s a chapter I skipped entirely.

2018: A Complicated Goodbye

I guess we didn't really think about that too much, but we were definitely thankful that he offered them, because we 100% needed them!

Naturally, I took as many photos as I could (and for as long as my frozen hands would allow me to) whilst I was in Yosemite, and I'm pleased to share a few of these photos here!

The Real Journey Begins

Before setting off from Romania. We had decided that we would make the most of this trip and do a solid week of travelling to various places. Our plan was as follows:

Drive from Los Angeles to the Grand Canyon and camp out in a yurt in the middle of the desert to observe a super clear sky. Then drive from the Grand Canyon in Arizona, straight to Las Vegas, Nevada, where we'd spend a day or so.. followed by a two-day trip from Vegas, through Death Valley, NV and all the way up to San Fransisco, CA, where we'd stay for a few days until boarding out flight straight back to Romania. Seems like a great plan doesn't it?

Grand Canyon, AZ

Well, nobody told us that it would be freezing cold at the Grand Canyon and that due to the fact there was so much snow and it was pitch black, we had absolutely no chance of even finding our yurt for the night... so instead, we were lucky and found a place to stay in a little town near to the Grand Canyon National Park, called Williams.

The following day, we woke up, drove straight to the Grand Canyon and managed to get some stunning views of the entire canyon dusted with snow.

Las Vegas, NV

What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, right? Well, that's certainly accurate for one of my lens caps. I dropped it at some point and there it stays... maybe even until this day, who knows?

It was definitely an interesting place to visit.. one of those places that you must visit if you're anywhere nearby and it was some fun, however, it did feel very artificial and I can't say that I would have wanted to spend much more time there than what we did.

It did make for some great photos though... surprisingly quiet streets considering just how significant that the city is and the amount of tourists that it attracts!

Death Valley, NV

This was one heck of a place to visit! Honestly, I didn't really know what to expect, but I was sure that I would get some beautiful photos there. Despite it being basically freezing everywhere else we visited, this was the first time in almost a week, where I could wear a T-Shirt and still feel my arms!

It was about 20°C and super sunny! It was like a mini holiday for my holiday and it was nice to get out, stretch our legs and enjoy the vastness of this amazing place! Words don't really describe it, so here's a few shots from there!

San Francisco, CA

This was our final stop before heading home to Cluj-Napoca, Romania and we decided that we'd make this stay a little longer, due to the fact that the city is so vast and has so much to see and do. The only problem was, the weather wasn't great and due to it now being December, we didn't get too much daylight.

I will say, however, that this was one of the only places that we had visited that I felt a little uneasy. There was a clear issue with homelessness and drug abuse, despite being smack bang in the middle of the financial district!

It was still a great city to visit, but the idea of leaving my bag unattended or even having a car to come back to was a debatable topic. I really didn't expect that, but needless to say, we took the opportunity to explore, visit some tourist attractions and generally enjoy the experience!

But what stuck with me most wasn’t just the vastness of it all. The country is just so large and diverse. Every state had it's own beauty and charm, not to mention that it was quiet comforting speaking my native language and being fully understood, thousands of miles from home. It was oddly grounding.

It felt like I belonged there, in some strange way. And for a while, I did.

2020: When the World Froze

Then came 2020. The pandemic. The lockdowns. The slow unravelling of routine.

What a crazy time this was... It both feels like 100 years ago but at the same time, as if it was just yesterday. It doesn't make any sense. It was a period of time which brought out some of the best and some of the worst in people. I remember sitting in the kitchen area at work and discussing with a colleague about how insane it was that China could build a hospital so quickly and joking about how we, in Romania, struggle to build a simple road network in a decade and then March 2020 came, and we were in lockdown.

Blogging was never central to my work, my life was taken over by trying to support the foreign community in Cluj-Napoca and other areas in Romania, by staying up-to-date with whatever was happening and providing translated and downloadable material and news for people to be able to make sure they were staying safe and abiding by the law.

My photography took a backseat too, but I didn’t abandon it entirely. I shot one project during that period—fittingly titled "Lockdown." 

It was a quiet, eerie session inside Iulius Mall, where almost everything was shut except for Auchan. I took my camera along while shopping with Naomi (Nguyen), and the result was a set of images that felt frozen in time—surreal, hollow, still.

But that was it. Just one session.

The pandemic also reinforced something people had been asking me for years:
"Why don’t you quit your job and do photography full-time?"
And the answer became clear: because I don’t want to and I would probably have had significant issues making ends meet during this period.

Photography is something I love. It’s part of my identity. But the moment I try to turn it into a job—when it becomes a requirement—it loses something. I’m grateful to have a stable job. It gave me peace during chaos. It gave me the freedom to not monetize my passion. And I want to keep it that way.

A Little Renovation Work

Whenever I had the opportunity, I spent some time to renovate the place that I was living at, that I moved to a few years before, as mentioned in one of my earlier blog posts from 2018. The house was quite old and it needed some love and care, something that I was more than willing to dedicate into making the house a home.. and also a nice space for my studio.

During my trip to the U.S., I paid for some work to be carried out to open up some space for a little kitchen area for my clients. I also took over the other half of the house, which at the time, was split into two separate apartments. I took down the wall which was separating the two spaces and started to renovate the bathroom into a brand new kitchen space.

It took a lot of time and effort with help from friends, some experimental renovation techniques and creative DIY jobs but it was a really enjoyable and satisfying period. I'll share some images from that time below! As you can see from the amount of photos, it's almost impossible to write and explain everything that was done.

Everything from replacing glass, sanding window frames, demolishing a bathroom and building a kitchen, all happened within about 6 or 7 months, all of a very little budget and all without contractors.

But 2020 had one more surprise in store...

November 2020: Fire

It started with something simple. I hadn’t had a kitchen for a while, and I’d left oil heating in a pan. I was about to put on my headphones and join a work meeting when I heard a strange noise—like a sound of someone rolling a suitcase along concrete. I decided to go and check it out, and to my horror, I saw flames were crawling up the wall and along the ceiling of the kitchen.

Two rooms away. Smoke. Heat. Panic.

Somewhere in the chaos, instinct kicked in. Training from my old Apple job—some health & safety course from years ago—came rushing back. I grabbed the extinguisher. I fought it. I cut the power. And yeah, in Romania, it seems that the extinguishers aren’t colour-coded, so I had no idea what kind it was until it hit me—literally.

I got burned. Badly.

Recovery was slow and rough. My appearance was a mess for a while. But I had some incredible friends who stepped in—emotionally, practically. We rebuilt the kitchen together. It took months. And despite it all, I walked away with a few more scars, a few more stories, and a crash course in fire safety I hope I never have to use again.

Believe it or not, this entire event unfolded on camera, and if you feel like seeing just how quickly a life can be turned upside-down, it's worth the watch:

Just one thing to mention, there are some images of the burns that I received, mostly during the healing process, so if you don't like to see that sort of thing, you should pay attention to the warning towards the end.

2021–2022: The Long Quiet and a Royal Surprise

The years that followed were quieter, but not without impact.

In October 2022, I was asked to photograph a Duke of Edinburgh’s Award ceremony in Romania. On paper, it was already impressive—Prince Guillaume of Luxembourg, Princess Margaretha, Prince Radu of Romania—but the as would have been expected, the The Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Edward, son of the late Queen Elizabeth II of the UK, would be attending.

That hit differently.

I took it seriously. It was a high-pressure few days. I kept my composure, did my work, and the results were excellent. The palace published the photos on their website and social media. It was surreal—photographing a British Royal as a British freelancer in Romania. A strange flex, sure. But one I’ll gladly keep. You can find some of the photos from this event on my "Press" section of my ALR Photography site here: https://alr-photography.com/press/the-duke-of-edinburghs-international-award/

More importantly, it was a massive confidence boost. It reminded me that even after everything—the fire, the burnout, the chaos—I was still capable. I was still good at what I do.

2023: From New York with Love

In 2023, I returned to the U.S with the company that I work with. However, this time, I decided to visit New York City on my own. I only stayed for four days, but I made the most of every second.

It was as super chill city during the time I visited as it was Memorial Day Weekend, and it seems that most people pack up and leave for greener spaces! That was absolutely perfect for me, because it meant that I could explore at a much more reasonable pace, visit attractions and literally stand in the middle of the road to get certain shots!

I'm just going to include all of the photos that I've currently published from my NYC trip! For what it's worth, I felt safer in NYC than I did when I visited San Francisco!

I visited the Empire State, the Rockefeller Center, wandered through streets that felt like movie sets—but the moment that left the deepest mark was visiting the 9/11 Memorial.

I was eleven years old when the towers fell. I remember watching it all unfold on TV, not fully understanding the scale but feeling the heaviness of it. That feeling never left. In my opinion, this is still represents one of the saddest days of my life where I feel real pain and hurt from the events that happened on that day.

I didn't take any cameras or equipment with me to 9/11 Memorial Museum, I just wanted to really experience it directly. I did take a few snapshots with my phone in areas that it was permitted, but honestly, nothing at all... no photos or videos can really communicate the impact that this site has on me.

It's one of those situations where "a picture is worth a thousand words" does not apply, there's literally zero words to describe this.

Standing there, feet on the ground where it happened, was haunting. It wasn’t just a visit—it was a confrontation with history... Understanding that it really did happen and that 1000s of people died exactly where I stood. I just stood in silence, it was really significant.

2024: The Studio Move

For years, I lived and worked in my space on Bulevardul Eroilor in Cluj-Napoca. I had spent months renovating the place, experienced a fire, rebuilding my life and spending time with friends and loved ones. That place held everything—my memories, my growth, my identity as both a resident and an established photographer. It’s where I healed after the fire. It’s where I built something from scratch. I poured everything into it, investing time, money, energy.

Then in 2024, the landlord said I had to go. Construction. Non-negotiable. The roof, which was something that I had reported, needed to be entirely replaced and it was going to be impossible to live there during this time and that the renovation work would take at least 1 year to complete. Just like that, it was gone.

I thought I’d have to start over, I didn't even know where I was going to go... If I would be able to remain in the central area of the city. But life threw me a bone this time.

The new studio used to be Q-Caffe, a quirky steampunk-style bar turned Airbnb and the owner was looking to find a long term tenant. The first time I had visited the place was actually in 2020, funnily enough a few months or so before I had the fire. The owner was looking to promote the space, and so I offered to photograph and write about the place for my news website, you can actually view the article and gallery here.

I’d even shot a boudoir and nude session there back when it had the wild decor. I never imagined I’d end up living there.

It was a very sad feeling to leave this place, undoing so much work and knowing that I would lock the door for one last time and likely never have the chance of stepping back through the doors is quite a horrible feeling. It's the stark reminder that renting a property comes with significant risk. The only silver lining to this situation, that made it somewhat easier, was the fact that I had already been renting a room in a separate apartment during the winter periods anyway, as heating the house on Eroilor was extremely expensive, due to it being ground floor, old and heated with electricity and not gas.

The packing began, the unscrewing began, the lifting and shifting began and within 1 month, everything was already moved into storage, ready to be moved into a new place.

Turns out, I’d formed a good friendship with the owner over the years. When I needed a place, it just clicked. And now, it’s my new home. A new space. A new studio. A new chapter.

The New Studio

2024 and Beyond

So where does that leave me?

Still here. Still shooting. Still alive.

There were dark years. Years where things didn’t come easy. Years that challenged everything I thought I knew. But I made it through. And I’m glad to be writing again—even if it took five years. I promise to keep things up-to-date here and the next post won't be so long!

At the end of it all, I’m reminded of this:

Life doesn’t always give you warnings. It gives you choices. To rebuild. To evolve. To keep creating. And I choose to do all of that—on my own terms.