London Spring Print

Born in Bucharest, Romania, Ada Bucur spent most of her childhood imagining stories and drawing them. But in the 70s and 80s in a communist country, the chances of receiving an art education were slim, so she earned a degree in Economics. Nevertheless, she began working as a journalist while still in university. Writing became her career and also a venue to finally express her creativity. After 25 years in the journalistic area, in 2017 she moved to Vancouver, Canada. In the process of adaptation in a new country, she discovered a new way to express her feelings through photography. “In my past work, I recognized the power of images, which was an important element of my journalism work. However, back then, I was the writer, and someone else was the photographer. After I moved to Vancouver, somewhat challenged by a lack of English proficiency, photography became my main tool in ‘writing’ my stories. It was love at first sight, and it seems that in a short time photography has managed to compete with my passion for words. It makes a lot of sense to me that photography is said to be the way to write with light", said the artist. She started the Photography Program at Langara College. As she progressed with her courses, she became passionate not only about advanced photography and lighting techniques but also about processing and editing images. Now she uses these skills to create elaborate and powerful visual stories, which combine elements from her photos. The artist explains the process of her creative work: “In my head the stories walk, and I choose those that I like more. After that, I search through my photo archive to see if I have all the elements that I need to create the new images. If something’s missing, I’m prepared to go out for a shooting. Sometimes I can use elements from photos that are not mine, but these are exceptions.” Her current work in fine art photography and collage photography art, which combine mainly nature, people, and still life photography, is proof that her talent was there all the time. The little girl from the past has finally found the place and the moment to tell her stories to the world.