The Color of Hay: The Peasants of Maramures

Northern Transylvania is the last bastion of subsistence peasant villages in Europe. It is an area so remote that the Romans never conquered them. Yet just two decades after the fall of communism, modernity is finally overcoming their centuries old traditions. In a single generation, the villages shown here have gone from illiterate poverty to cell phone towers. Kathleen's photographs capture both the traditions and the change of the first decade of the 21st century. Using a medium format camera with traditional film negatives, she pursues the mission of a documentary photographer by preserving a piece of fading history. Over 130 photos are displayed throughout 200 pages. Each image carries a caption, a location and a date. The book is organized into chapters on the seasons, the ceremonies, and the meaning of life. Throughout, there are essays, poems, proverbs, ghost stories and songs to add depth to the lives of these special villages.