2011–2015

Tunnels and Pipes

"Tunnels and Pipes" is a documentary photography project that explores the lives of a community of homeless people living in the underground sewer tunnels near Bucharest’s Central Station. The origins of this phenomenon can be traced back to the early 1990s, following the collapse of Romania’s communist regime. During this period, many children and adolescents living in state-run orphanages chose to leave these institutions and live on the streets, where they experienced a greater sense of freedom. Throughout the 1990s, the presence of homeless children became a widespread phenomenon in Bucharest. They were commonly referred to as "aurolaci", a derogatory term derived from "Aurolac", a brand of metallic paint whose solvents they inhaled from plastic bags. Ghercă encountered this reality during his own childhood in Dristor, a working-class neighborhood in eastern Bucharest, where groups of homeless children were a familiar presence. Like many children of his generation, he was forbidden by his parents from playing or interacting with them. This early experience of witnessing a community that existed in plain sight yet remained socially excluded would later become part of the personal background of "Tunnels and Pipes". The project documents a community that, at its peak, consisted of approximately 100 individuals, ranging in age from 7 to 45. It follows their lives from the community’s emergence in October 2011 to its dissolution in July 2015. The central figure of the project is Bruce Lee, the community’s leader, who was 42 years old at the time and had been living on the streets since the age of 16. In July 2015, Bruce Lee was arrested and subsequently convicted on drug-trafficking charges following a year-long investigation. Authorities accused him of organizing a drug distribution network composed exclusively of homeless people living in the tunnels, allegedly involved in trafficking heroin, methadone, and ecstasy. 90 color and b&w pictures, 35mm and 6x6cm