Hello everyone ! We are Bogdan Boghitoi and Sorin Vidis, two guys who at some point in their life fell in love with documentary photography and teamed up to practice it in our way. In this fast paced digital age, we take our time to explore the world in depth by engaging into long term-projects that we photograph on film. The present photobook is the direct outcome of our slow approach to tell the story of the practice of a sport that seems almost obsolete.

What is oina?

Imagine baseball being played with the same passion, but with the purity money and fame preclude. Imagine it not being the very visible sport of the world nation always  in limelight. Imagine it rather as the well-kept secret of a little-known country, somewhere in Eastern Europe. Imagine it also not as one of the most important sports there, but being barely known even in Romania, where it was born. Now you’re closer to getting a better picture about oina.

No, oina is not baseball. But it is as real as baseball. And yes, in certain respects it verily looks like baseball. This has prompted many to argue that it is its ancestor. It is an old sport. Nevertheless, few have even the slightest idea about it, even in Romania, where it faded away from public consciousness. But there are people who still practice it. And they do it with fervour. We followed them even in the most remote corners of Romania, and we discovered a world and a game that fascinated us.

After two years of labor and amazing discoveries, we put together a photographic book about the life of this ancient sport. This was the goal of the photojournalistic project we started in 2014. We self funded our project so far, we sometimes found wonderful and talented people to help us with important things, from providing us with contacts to creating the layout of the book. What we need from you now is support for us to give physicality to this amazing story. Help us print our book and you will become one of the few connoisseurs in the world of a sport that might otherwise be forgotten, like it has never existed.

What We Need & What You Get

The necessary amount was tailored around a rather small run of 300 books quotation that we got from the best printing house in Bucharest, that delivers state of the art books with the utmost care and proficiency. All of the funding is intended to go towards printing the book and fulfilling the contributor's perks.

We have designed the available perks for people that resonate with our passion and appreciate our efforts, for photography lovers, avid explorers of the underground or for people who just want to reach out and help.

All of the next perks contain one or more of the following: Oina - photo-book signed by the authors, carefully crafted post-cards with the caption of the photo and a thank you note from us and also a limited number of hand made (obviously) silver gelatin prints featuring images from the project.

The Impact

You may want to take a look on the project's website http://oina-project.ro or our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/oinaproject.

Media featuring our project:

http://viewfind.com/story/oina-project

http://www.oitzarisme.ro/2016/03/16/bogdan-boghitoi-and-sorin-vidis-oina-project/

http://www.feeder.ro/2015/11/19/oina/

http://www.vice.com/ro/read/oina-este-o-traditie-romaneasca-ce-prinde-la-femei-la-fel-de-bine-ca-ia-473

http://adevarul.ro/news/societate/foto-sportul-national-romaniei-unul-probabil-n-ai-auzit-mai-practica-oina-e-universul-ei-1_5537c02fcfbe376e35723ea4/index.html

http://www.re-forma.ro/sorin-vidis-bogdan-boghitoi-cel-mai-frumos-sport-proiectul-fotografic-oina-o-discutie/

http://www.vice.com/ro/read/oina-a-fost-aleasa-sportul-national-al-romaniei-dar-putini-romani-stiu-ce-i-asta-535

http://www.iqads.ro/articol/37090/bogdan-boghitoi-si-sorin-vidis-oina-project-am-vrut-sa-vedem-cum-arata-tara-asta

Also you may be interested in our previous work:

http://www.featureshoot.com/2014/04/sorin-vidis/#!FEBgN

http://viewfind.com/story/what-to-expect-when-you-are-expecting-in-transylvania-music-festival

http://petapixel.com/2014/04/27/people-pit-captures-disappearing-community-outskirts-bucharest/

http://www.odcloneno.com/blog/2015/2/interview-fotograf-sorin-vidis-pouzivat-fotoaparat-leica-zbran-dokumentarni-fotografie

http://edgeofhumanity.com/2015/10/22/bosnia/

http://www.antlerpress.co.uk/sorin.html

http://viewfind.com/story/the-last-people-of-the-pit

Risks & Challenges

Besides meeting the campaign's goal, that we believe we have already clarified, our next risk that comes to mind would be the fulfillment of the contributor's perks within the set deadline.

We have taken into account various delays that might incur from printing house overload to postal misfortune or bad weather. This is why we have delayed the delivery to March 2017. So, your package may very well get to you sooner.

Other Ways You Can Help

If you still like our project but you just don't feel like contributing or even if you've already did, please get the word out by means of sharing thus caring and also by word of mouth. Tell your colleagues, your brothers and sisters, your friends and family and even your worst enemies - they may be of great value to us.

Thank you for your help !

Bogdan&Sorin