In time, Gypsys population in Romania got to be consistently grasped in tough clichés. Te aven baxtale! reads break a leg, plus the magic in the original ring, the reason why we chose to keep the original as a title. Te aven baxtale! is also often used as a greeting, optimistic, if casual. It is a catch phrase, telling of the almost mystique mind of a people who may often have no idea of what tomorrow has in store for them: tomorrows make a blurred prospect, a misty thing fading out into life's antagonistic matters of fact. The Stanesti bucketeers in Hirlau, Romanian Moldavia, are honest Gypsies, living by their good old tradition, hammering copper tanks, roof plating and all sorts of what not's. Their earnest passionate confessions carry us into a world spun on principles sometimes at odds with today's societal norms. Editing is intentionally hesitant. Technique failures may feel irksome. We only meant to grasp the feeling of a life style -- our simple minded heroes' -- adrift.Their today's hard times -- no less than their yesterday's -- lead to a somber perception, covered -- we believe -- by the black-and-white esthetics we chose for photography effects reasons. We therefore hope that Te aven baxtale! (Break a leg!) stands well on its feet, inductive of the good luck it spells out for everyone in front of it, outside and -- even better -- inside.
Căldărarii din Hîrlău județul Iași, trec, ca întreaga societate din Romania, printr-un profund proces de transformare a mentalului cultural, provocat de schimbările fundamentale ale tranziției spre un trai de tip capitalist. Pentru Stănești (așa se numesc toți membrii acestei comunități) vertijul acestor transformări nu este deloc descumpănitor, ei se adaptează parțial noilor realități, păstrând totodată cu îndârjire o mare parte din obiceiurile și îndeletnicirile lor tradiționale.
