In Conversation With... Our New Artist Iris Maria Tușa
Water Trough, Dobrogea, 2018
In the series ‘In Conversation With…’ Elliott Gallery asks the photographers—represented by the gallery—about their work, inspiration and future plans.
This fall we are excited to announce the representation of Iris Maria Tușa. Iris is a Romanian photographer specialising in long-term photographic projects that interrogate dominant historical narratives and offer alternative, imaginative interpretations of reality.
1. Your career started as a biologist, leading research expeditions to Antarctica - an extraordinary path in itself!
What inspired you to pursue photography, and how did that journey begin and unfold?
I started out as a biologist and have taken part in three research expeditions to Antarctica. My next one is coming up in January 2026, which I’m really excited about.
My connection to art began much earlier. My grandfather was a painter, and I spent a lot of time with him and my grandparents in Constanța, in the Dobrogea region. That’s where my love for art and observation first took shape, during those quiet summers by the sea surrounded by stories, color, and light.
Biology taught me how to look closely. Through the lens of the microscope, I learned to notice the hidden layers of life, and later the camera became a natural extension of that way of seeing. It felt like a continuation of the same curiosity, only now I could express not just structure and form but also feeling and atmosphere.
When I lived in Antarctica, photography became a way to make sense of the isolation and intensity of that place. Inside the structured rhythm of a scientific base, I began photographing the researchers, their small gestures, their stories, their moments of stillness, as well as the landscape itself. The harsh, silent vastness of Antarctica strangely reminded me of Dobrogea’s dry, wind-carved lands, the ones that first taught me to listen to silence.
Later I studied photography formally, first in Bucharest and then at Falmouth University in the UK. Since 2014, my work has evolved from simple curiosity about the outside world into a deeper exploration of the inner one, transforming emotion, memory, and silence into visual narratives.
Girl at the Window, Dobrogea, 2018
The Lime Room, Dobrogea, 2018
2. You often photograph in your native Dobrogea region of Romania, revisiting your upbringing and childhood memories. Dobrogea is unfamiliar to many of us here in the Netherlands, yet you make it so relatable by evoking something universal; the fleeting memories of childhood, carefree play, and the thrill of youthful adventures.
Can you tell us a bit about your home region and what are your most cherished memories from your childhood?
Because Dobrogea is not familiar to many people in the Netherlands, I think it’s important to describe it a little first. It is a land between the Danube and the Black Sea, a place where time seems to move differently and where layers of history and culture have intertwined for centuries. Dobrogea is a true melting pot, with Turks, Tatars, Greeks, Armenians, Jews, Ukrainians, and Romanians all brought together by the shifting tides of history.
My grandfather came from Constantinople around 1912, so my family itself is part of this mosaic. Growing up there shaped the way I see life, with curiosity, empathy, and a deep sense of belonging to something larger than myself. The gestures of people, the smell of the dry earth after rain, the stories told in taverns, the endurance of those through history are fragments that stay with me.
Some of my most cherished childhood memories are of long summer days spent outside, climbing trees, playing with friends, and feeling that sense of careless freedom that still exists in the villages of Dobrogea. There was a quiet connection between play, land, and light, something that made the world feel both intimate and vast. I think I have been searching for that feeling ever since, through my photographs.
By the Danube, Dobrogea, 2018
“Ultimately, I hope the photographs invite people to slow down, to listen to the silence within themselves, and to feel that subtle bridge between memory and emotion, a space where something lost can momentarily be found again.”
Afternoon Sleep, Dobrogea, 2018
Harvest Girl, Dobrogea, 2019
3. Memory, childhood and belonging are recurring themes in your work.
When people encounter your photographs, how do you want them to feel or reflect on these themes?
When people encounter my photographs, I hope they reconnect with their own memories, not necessarily with my Dobrogea, but with the essence of their own beginnings. My wish is to awaken something quiet and intimate inside them, a sense of tenderness for what once was and for the purity of seeing the world for the first time.
Louise Glück once wrote, “We look at the world once, in childhood. The rest is memory.” I believe that to be true. My work often begins from that place, the tension between what was lived and what is remembered, between reality and imagination.
Through projects such as Thresholds and Childhood Memories, I’ve tried to explore how fragments of memory can become universal. The landscapes and children of Dobrogea are part of my own story, but they are also mirrors in which viewers can glimpse their own pasts and their own sense of belonging.
Ultimately, I hope the photographs invite people to slow down, to listen to the silence within themselves, and to feel that subtle bridge between memory and emotion, a space where something lost can momentarily be found again.
Swing over the Hill, Dobrogea, 2020
First Rain, Dobrogea, 2022
4. Your photographs offer intimate portrayals of communities, especially children, in the rural landscapes of southeast Romania. Beyond capturing these scenes, you convey feelings that we all can relate to and reflect upon through our own memories.
Could you walk us through your creative process and how you capture and bring your visions to life?
I have been photographing in Dobrogea for many years now. I started in 2016, and over time I’ve created my own routes, returning again and again to the same villages and places that resonate deeply with me. I know the people there, and the children in my photographs are not strangers. Many of them have become dear to me.
I don’t photograph people randomly. I build relationships first. I spend time observing, talking, and listening so that what I capture can unfold naturally. The moments that emerge are never staged in the traditional sense; they grow out of familiarity and trust.
My process moves between spontaneity and intention. I shoot both environmental portraits, which are more atmospheric and instinctive, and interior portraits, which feel more collaborative, especially with the young girls I’ve photographed for Thresholds. In that project, one of the chapters explores the relationship between the girls and their living spaces, how environment and identity reflect one another.
Each journey to Dobrogea is carefully planned, yet I remain open to what arises. Sometimes, things shift once I arrive, moods change, stories take unexpected directions. I adapt and reshape my approach constantly, and over time my body of work has become more of a visual story than a factual documentary.
It is always a balance between the outer landscape and my inner one, between what I see and what I feel. Through that tension, the photographs slowly find their voice.
Hiding Place, Dobrogea, 2024
5. We’re very excited to welcome you as Elliott Gallery's newest represented Artist and to begin this journey together.
What does this new collaboration mean to you at this stage in your career?
I am very excited as well, and it already feels like such a beautiful and meaningful collaboration. It comes at an incredible moment for me, just after completing my MA, when I began looking more seriously at how to grow as an artist, build meaningful connections, and dedicate more time to my practice.
For years I’ve been working independently, shaping my projects slowly and organically, so having the support of a gallery that truly understands my work feels both grounding and inspiring. It allows me to reach wider audiences and to share my stories and vision in a more intentional way.
This collaboration feels like the right step at the right time, opening a space for my work to grow and reach new layers of meaning. It carries both excitement and a deep sense of gratitude, and I look forward to everything we will build together.
Interviewed by Eszti Bakos (Elliott Gallery) October 2025
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