'Following the Grain of Wood' 2017-ongoing.
With a deep concern for environmental and social justice issues, Daniel is interested in deforestation, a major global issue affecting Romania too. Vast amounts of forest have been lost due to inadequate government management, international corporation interests and illegal logging. Political decisions significantly impact the rural community where there's a lack of access to alternative fuels, and firewood (mainly made of the dried wood found in the forest) has always been a basic need for survival. Since joining the EU, access to essential firewood has been conditioned by unethical policies made by politicians, some of them easily corrupted by the greed of international corporations. In parallel with bad policies there is, also illegal logging that affects the forests in Romania. This illegal logging doesn't just have a devastating environmental and economic impact, but it also has social consequences as their circumstances sometimes constrain logging workers to work on unlawful wood harvesting.
The logging workers must periodically live away from their families, in remote and isolated places near the harvesting area with old caravans as their shelter. Logging is a dangerous and physically demanding job as it involves heavy lifting and the use of tools like axe and chainsaws. Falling trees or branches, rough terrain and big machinery are constant hazards.
With this body of work, Daniel is exploring the relationship between people and the forest in Romania's rural parts, where there's been a destructive shift between the two parties for the last two decades. The same people that are reliant on the forest are the pawns used in its massacre.
The struggle is a universal theme within this body of work. The battle of the logging workers to do their job. The locals' effort to get firewood to survive. Daniel’s own battle to protect the forest in Romania and also to fight back against obstacles to produce this work, either because he is based in the UK and travelling can be costly and also because of the restricted access to the affected areas, due to the difficult terrain and also the reluctance of the logging workers to cooperate and speak with me as they are scared that it could harm their job or putting them in danger.