A Different Way of Transport
A photographic collection of horse carts
I always loved watching horse carts passing by. They just have something nostalgic in their appearance. A slower option of transport in times when everyone wants to travel as fast as possible.
Sitting on a horse cart gives you the option to take in your surrounding. To pay attention to the landscape your passing. You wave at people staring at you while feeling the wind in your hair. The rays of sunshine burn on your skin and you wish this moment would never end.
I do know that people still use horse carts as a working vehicle. To transport hay and other goods back from their farm. And that they would prefer having a more modern vehicle but can’t afford it.
But for me, seeing one of these horse carts on the streets is always a positive thing. They make me smile. They make me think about a time I wasn’t even born yet.
A trip into the past.
That is what this photographic documentary is. All of these photographs have been taken on my last trip to Romania, Eastern Europe, in 2012. It was a trip with my whole family. One of the last ones together with my parents since I traveled already a lot on my own back then.
But this trip was important to me. I wanted to do this trip. A trip into the past. A trip that brought me back to my roots. To where I came from. A trip back there where all the stories come from I hear from my parents and grandparents.
Looking at these photographs of overloaded vehicles I have to think back at the last six years I mainly spent on the African continent. It could have been just as well a photograph from somewhere in Africa. Or even Southeast Asia. Just that in southeast Asia they would use motorbikes to transport their goods.
Recycling trash is still a problem in most parts of the world. While Eastern Europe is a bit more developed than other parts of the world, you do see still enough or too much trash in nature.
Wherever I’ve lived or traveled through I always made it a mission for myself to do something for the community by collecting trash, talking and explaining recycling and obviously trying to avoid producing trash as much as possible.
That is why I love seeing locals being involved in the recycling process. One step at a time. Because every step counts.
During long days in the hot summer months in Romania, I felt sometimes sorry for these guys sitting on the horse carts. The sun was burning down every day in full power and these guys had no protection from the sun.
Since I smiled most of the time seeing a horse cart the people sitting on it would usually smile back at me. Some kind of sharing happiness in the world. A joyful exchange.
I definitely want to go back to Romania soon. For a few weeks at least. To travel back in time again. To have my life slowed down. To enjoy those small joys in life. To share a smile here and there.
Because that is what it’s about. To be happy with what you have. We don’t always need something bigger and better. Sometimes we’re just fine with what we have already. And even if it’s just a horse cart.
