Romanian, 1976
Petrut is a documentary photographer and videographer based in Bucharest. After doing a Bachelor in Journalism and Media, he worked as a photographer for the main newspaper in Bucharest before quitting to concentrate more on personal projects.
The first major project – ‘Pride and Concrete’ – which looks at the displays of newly gained wealth amongst migrant workers who have returned to their rural communities, involved four years of photographing and filming in Romania and Paris. With the help of the World Press and Robert Bosch Foundations, Petrut produced a photo story, a short film, a book, a website and a travelling exhibition that was featured in Bucharest, Negresti (in the middle of the documented community), Berlin and London.
His second long-term project – ‘Black Sea’ – has taken him to countries all around the sea and been partially financed with a grant from the German Martial Fund. Having grown up in Constanta, on the shores of the sea, Petrut has a fascination with the strange mix of holiday making and localised tensions and conflicts that have punctuated the past couple of decades in the region. ‘Black Sea’ is an ongoing project and Petrut continues to travel when ever possible. A selection of images is viewable at www.theblacksea.eu.
Petrut’s work has been published in magazines and newspapers around the world – from the Sunday Times Magazine and Businessweek to the New York Times, VICE and Esquire. He has also worked for corporate clients such as Orange, Wella International, Ericsson, Renault and Discovery Channel.
Petrut has won a number of awards, including a documentary award at the Humanity Photo Awards in China, supported by UNESCO and an Honourable Mention at the China International Press Photo award (CHIPP) in 2015.