Bogdan Cristel

Bogdan Cristel

Based
Bucharest, Romania
Born
Bucharest, Romania
Status
Photographer
“I’m excited by stories that, at first glance, are very hard to illustrate. It’s a real challenge to try to show things with pictures that people usually just hear or read about.”

Beat

I cover feature stories, people in the news, contemporary issues and sports.

One Shot

. REVEL, France. REUTERS/Bogdan Cristel
Riders cycle past a bee hovering beside a sunflower during the 13th stage of the Tour de France cycling race, between Rodez and Revel.
“I took this shot while trying to capture a different angle of the famous sunflowers along the route of the Tour de France, and at first I was disappointed, but it turned out much better than I expected. A colleague joked it took the ‘Cannes prize of Tour de France sunflowers’!”

Profile

My mother worked in the field of photography, so I grew up around cameras and a darkroom. My earliest memories of photos are the beautiful black and white pictures, taken with old film cameras, which were all around the house, and the smell of darkroom chemicals. Taking pictures myself came quite naturally…

I don’t remember my first assignment very well, but I can say that each new photography job is like the first one. It gives me the same feeling of excitement, fear, hope and, at the same time, a desire to do better.

I learn something from every assignment, and every small event. Experience shapes what I’m doing quite heavily, but there is always space to think about new things.

It’s very hard to choose a single event that left the biggest mark on me. When I think of all my assignments, it’s like having many children, you love them all just the same (although maybe the youngest a little bit more!).

One job that did make a big impact on me took place in 2006, when the River Danube flooded southern Romania, leaving a lot of villages underwater. I spent an Easter service in a field with lots of the hopeless refugees. It was hard to see them with tears in their eyes, after losing everything, but at the same time with real faith in God’s help.

I’m excited by stories that, at first glance, are very hard to illustrate. It’s a real challenge to try to show things with pictures that people usually just hear or read about.

Working for a big news agency, it’s exciting to know that your pictures could be seen all around the world, but it’s also a big responsibility. I’m very aware of that, and I always try to be a credible witness for everybody, showing facts with my pictures.

I respect all photojournalists who, day by day, bear witness to the beauty, the happiness, the truth and the pain of this world.

I would like to thank my friend and colleague Radu Sigheti for what I am now.