The unmade photo by Dorel Găină

Illustration by: Maria Surducan

The unmade photo by:
Andreea Retinschi

I think there is a special place in the mind of every photographer where they keep those photos that they never took. At first, I would see them vividly, like looking at the printed photo, but lately, timidity or the lack of reaction are no longer the reason why I don’t take a photo, but rather the fear of braking GDPR laws. I no longer store anything on this imaginary memory card.

A photo which I did not take out of timidity, but I have it in front of my eyes to this day, was with a girl in London. I was visiting for the first time, in my early twenties, with my first DSLR around my neck. She was on the street, walking alongside one of her parents and holding a huge teddy bear in her arms. For a second, she turned around and looked straight into my eyes. Everyone was walking, the city was humming, but time froze for that one instance. I know that it doesn’t sound like much, but one of my teachers told me that sometimes we photograph exactly what we are at that moment. And a few years before, I used to be the little girl with the teddy bear, in a foreign land. This photo that was never taken is the x-ray of another photo that does not exist.

About Andreea Retinschi

She shoots mostly portraits, but will take a photo of anything that touches her soul at a certain moment in time.