Cinci Lei

‘Cinci Lei’ by Dutch photographer Joost Vandebrug follows the lives of a group of kids that inhabit the tunnels underneath the streets of Bucharest, oftenly referred to as the Lost Boys. Over the years Vandebrug became very close with many of them, learning their incredible stories. He saw the coming of age of a generation set against a backdrop of drug addiction, powerful friendships, orphanages, harsh winters and boiling summers. It started when Vandebrug gave Costel, one of the Lost Boys, a few pictures that he had shot of him the day before he was invited hdown to show where they lived. With no common language, photography became a way to communicate.

Cinci Lei translates literally as ‘five lei’, the currency of Romania, but it’s also the amount of money for one shot of Aurolac, the solvent the tunnel population use to get high off. The four kids who are the focus of the images have been homeless since they were about six, abandoned by their families, and looked after by the Godfather of the tunnels, named Bruce Lee, one of the first generation of post-Communist homeless population, forced onto the streets by the closing down of the orphanages.

The photos in the book are part coming-of-age document of boys being boys, part harrowing socio-cultural document of collapsed society and the people left behind; it’s always heartfelt though, and Joost has a wonderful eye for finding raw beauty and moments of joy in the squalor. These days Joost finds himself as much a social worker as he does photographer, intimately involved in helping the boys and trying to improve the lives he’s documented.

Condition: Very good, some minor wear to cover