Homeland

Maria Gutu

2019-2022 — Moldova

About this series

The Homeland series explores the connections between young people from the northern Republic of Moldova and their surroundings. One third of Moldova’s population has emigrated and the number of citizens leaving increases every year. Homeland isn’t only a place, person or event. When I was a child my parents went abroad to work, and I spent time with my grandparents. Then, because of my studies in Chisinau, I visited home so little that I wanted to spend some time documenting it, to live what I missed: home, family.
Perhaps I wanted to resolve this sense of loss by documenting the place of my childhood, wanting to know more about this beautiful place with a wonderful nature from which people constantly leave.
“Homeland” is a poetic quest for my roots, for a home whose meaning always changes.

Photographer: Maria Gutu
Nationality: Moldovian
Based in: Moldovia
Website: artpil.com/maria-gutu
Instagram: @mariagutuv

Maria Gutu was born in 1996 in Moldova, Republic of. She’s studying now at  School of Modern Photography, Saint Petersburg. In 2020 she finished her studies at the Academy of Music, Theatre, and Fine Arts in Chisinau where she studied cinematography for 4 years. In 2018 she became one of 30 women photographers under 30 years by Artpil. In 2019 she received a CDFD (Centre of Documentary Photography) grant, Bucharest, Romania. In 2020 she became finalist of 2020 People Photography Award by The Independent Photographer. From 2021 Maria is a member of WomenPhotograph.
In 2022 she was shortlisted at Sony World Photography Awards, Open Competition: Portraiture.
She had collective exhibitions in: Romania, France and The United States.
Maria is interested in documentary photography, remote places, youth, notion of home and the relation between humans and environment.