Lately many good things have been written in the press, both Romanian (gandul.info, descopera.ro) and foreign (The Independent, CNN, Forbes, Vanity Fair, Madame Figaro, L’Express, Corriere della Sera, Business Insider, Huffington Post, and others), about the 30 years old photographer Mihaeal Noroc’s project called The Atlas of Beauty. She had the inspirational idea of initiating a unique project – to cross as many countries and as many continents as she could in order to find sincere, authentic feminine beauty.
Inheriting the artistic talents from her father, who is a sculptor, not for a moment did Mihaela hesitate between abandoning her tepid job and taking on her lifetime passion – photography. Photography opened up numerous opportunities for her and prompted her to start the ambitious project The Atlas of Beauty. Initially it was entitled Beauty Around the World (BAW) and, in time, it grew and evolved becoming the Atlas and also a “study about world societies”, as Mihaela declared for Gandul.
Her wanderings carried her from Romania to Japan and from Rio de Janeiro among the African tribes. Mihaela is convinced the beauty lies in the “origins and culture of each people”. This is the reason why she never took the plane from Bucharest to Tokyo, but traveled solely by bus, train or boat, making a photographic journey as she crossed each country and observing through her lens the feminine physiognomy changing from Europe to Asia. Leaving these two continents behind, she continued her journey to Australia and New Zealand, then South America and her final destination: the USA. I didn’t leave home with a strict itinerary in my mind; I changed it on the way, depending on my experiences and my budget.
Each country and each person she encountered meant another challenge for Mihaela to surpass the cultural and communication barriers. Sometimes she was met with open arms, other times people ignored her or acted very coldly. But each experience helped to write another page of the Atlas.
She found beauty in local markets, bars, in the street or university campuses and she is willing to share it with each and every person who wants to access her blog: theatlasofbeauty.com.
All of you who are interested in supporting Mohaela Noroc’s project are more than welcome to access the following link: theatlasofbeauty.com/support.
All photographies belong to: Mihaela Noroc.