Sorina Rotaru. Jazz Portraits at the National Museum of Art Bucharest

Sorina Rotaru
Bucharest
June, 2026

I was walking the streets of Bucharest, camera in hand, looking for nothing in particular. Then I heard music drifting from a courtyard and I followed it, the way you follow something you can't quite name.

It was Sorina Rotaru. Mid-concert, completely in her world, unaware I had just wandered in off the street.

I've worked with Sorina before. I know her presence, her stillness between notes, the way she holds a room without demanding it. But there's something different about photographing someone when they don't know you're there yet. The performance becomes something more private. More true.

After the concert I asked if we could make a few portraits together. She said yes. We stayed in the courtyard of the National Museum of Art in Bucharest as the evening settled around us and made something quiet and honest out of what had started as pure chance.

This is what I love most about photography. You go out looking for one thing and the city hands you something else entirely.

A woman in a fitted dress is holding a large, wide-brimmed hat over her face, obscuring her features, standing outdoors near a building and a sculpture.
A woman dressed in a long, elegant white dress with a slit, wearing a large wide-brimmed hat, standing outdoors near a building with flowers in the background.
A woman in a white dress with gold buckles, wearing pearl earrings and a wide-brimmed white hat, standing outdoors in front of pink flowers and greenery.
Woman in an elegant white off-shoulder gown with gold accents, wearing a large white hat, standing in front of ornate metal gate, with beige stone building walls in the background.
A woman in a fitted white dress with a slit and gold buttons, wearing a large white hat, stands in front of ornate metal doors with a crest above them, on the steps of a grand building.
Musicians performing outdoors in front of a historic building with arched windows. A man is playing a double bass, a woman is singing with a microphone, and another man is playing a keyboard. Red string art installation surrounds the performers.
Musicians performing outdoors at a park, with a woman wearing a wide-brimmed white hat playing a microphone, a man playing a red keyboard, and people sitting and standing around, surrounded by trees and red metal structures.
A woman in a white dress and large white hat singing into a microphone during a live outdoor music performance, with an audience seated on chairs and benches in a park-like setting.
A woman in a white dress and a large white hat stands outdoors during a live music performance, with a man playing guitar and another man with glasses also performing. Audience members are visible in the background.
A woman dressed in a white, off-the-shoulder dress with gold buttons, wearing a large white wide-brimmed hat, is performing a dance in an outdoor plaza during a public event. A man playing a guitar is next to her, and a crowd is watching in the backg
A woman in a white dress and large white hat dancing outdoors during a public event, with a musician playing a string instrument nearby, and a crowd seated and standing in the background.
A woman wearing a white off-shoulder dress and a large wide-brimmed white hat, smiling and making a heart shape with her hands, in front of a decorative red geometric structure outdoors.
A black and white photo of a woman wearing an off-shoulder dress and large earrings, standing outdoors next to a large parasol, with a Ferris wheel and a building with arched windows in the background.
Black and white photo of a woman with short hair wearing an off-shoulder dress with button details, smiling, with large circular balloon in the background and a Ferris wheel in the distance.
A woman in a white off-shoulder dress and large wide-brimmed hat standing outdoors in front of historic buildings, smiling and posing with her hands near her hips.
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Sorina Rotaru