Walking in Place is an evocative window into a post-Socialist village in Magura, Romania. In the late 1980s, revolutions toppled dictators in Eastern Europe and transformed social and economic landscapes. With new-found optimism and dreams, families deserted rural villages for the ease of living and modern plumbing of urban centers. Aspiring entrepreneurs abandoned the toil of garden farming and self-sufficiency, and headed for the national capital, Bucuresti. Especially across wide regions of Romania, once vibrant, close-knit communities quickly became ghost towns of crumbling mud-and-wood homesteads, dilapidated churches, and empty school houses. A village of 2500 people in southern Romania, Magura is an exception. Although it sits close by the main highway to Bucuresti (an easy escape route), the village has changed little since the December 1989 coup and execution of totalitarian despot Nicolae Ceauescu and his wife Elena. Most Magura families stayed put.

Small plots of corn continue to feed cows and pigs, September wine is still pressed from garden grapes, and, as for 100s of years, the skins, seeds, and canes from the vine are distilled into potent uica and palinka. The school is full of children. The mayor sits in his office calming arguments about field boundaries or water access. In 1996, archaeologist Doug Bailey started an excavation in Magura. While the project's scientific goal was to uncover traces of prehistoric occupation, Bailey's interests turned quickly from a study of the distant past to a photographic exploration of the modern, post-revolution village. His camera found a community staying put, little changed by the larger-scale geopolitical upheavals. The Magura of these photographs is alive. Few have left.

The community persists. At its own pace. To its own rhythm. The people walk their streets. In place. Their place. Without going anywhere, they have everything they need. They are everywhere they need to be.