Asa Sjostrom: Silent Land

Silent Land is a portrait of life in Moldova, one of Europe’s poorest and remotest countries. Photographer Åsa Sjöström visited the country repeatedly in the ‘00s. When she returned in 2014 she noticed that something had changed. Moldova had become silent: ‘When I arrived in Moldova for the first time, in 2005, I approached the people and the country with an idea about misery and social problems. Those were the stories I had heard about this small, unknown country sandwiched between Romania and the Ukraine, the stories that had coloured my views. Three month-long trips later I had a collection of photographs from prisons, trafficking and violence. But something was missing. I wanted to experience life around the corner, things one takes for granted and perhaps don’t pay attention to in one’s everyday life ... Moldova has changed fundamentally since 2005, and so have I and the people I have met. Each time I’m about to leave, I wonder what it is that attracts me to a place, a country or a story. The connection is often personal and I can’t always put into words why I am captivated by a story. I let my meetings with people and my images tell the story. However, I do know that it is very difficult for me to let go when I have been attracted to something. I want to know more, I want to enter the country, meet people and learn their stories. A story I share, even though it’s not mine. We share the same dreams, the same hopes for the future; it’s just the conditions that separate us.’