The idea of gold permeates through much of the visual world. But unless you’re holding it in your hand, it can’t really affect you at all. It doesn’t really have a taste, scent, or sound. And in that way, gold is like a printed photograph. We put a ton of value on gold because of what it’s associated with: wealth. However, we also tend to really adore the shimmer it delivers — which is much different from that of silver. In this image for the current Magnum Square Print sale, photographer Thomas Dworzak tells us about how he found gold.
Image by Thomas Dworzak. Used with permission. This photo is available for purchase as part of the current Magnum Square Print Sale that ends on May 5th, 2024.
Here’s what Thomas told us
Inspired by Cristian Mungiu’s 2009 movie “Tales from the Golden Age (Amintiri din epoca de aur) “ when travelling around Romania at that time, in the back of my head I was always looking for gold…
We originally asked Thomas about how the color gold does something for this image that no other color can really do. And while his answer doesn’t address our question at all, we can all relate that if the confetti had been colored blue, or red, the photo would have a much different feeling. But the color of gold tells us that this is surely some sort of extra special celebration.
As part of the Fable sale for the Magnum Square Print Sale, it also makes us think about some really magical times.