
Striking images of remote Romanian villages show the medieval conditions in which inhabitants work, celebrate and live, without the interference of modern technology in a manner their ancestors would recognise.

The insightful photographs show natives of the remote Romanian countryside driving horse and carts, tending to animals and enjoying a local traditional festival.

The pictures were taken by photographer Alex Robciuc in various villages around the Maramures County of Romania such as Bârsana, Strâmtura, and Breb.

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These two men are travelling to a wedding in the village of Maramures in Romania in a tradition which hasn't changed in 800 years

People work eke out their existence from the land in the remote Carpathian Mountains area otherwise known as the Transylvanian Alps

Residents in the remote villages still routinely wear their traditional dress which has remained unchanged for generations

Robciuc said: 'The portraits shows people in different places, doing what they usually do; working, celebrating, thinking and hoping - like we all do.

'What is particular with them is the fact that unlike most people they are not constantly around technology so they aren't used to having their photo taken.

'The expressions they hold in the photos are all completely natural as they do not want to appear different than they are. The face captured in the portraits shows how complex a person can be in his simplicity.'

The village of Breb is much loved by British monarchy and Prince Charles is known to have spent many holidays in the remote village.

Alex said: 'Breb is well known because Prince Charles gifted his first grandson with a land full of mountain flowers in Transylvania.'

The 100-or-so villages are scattered along the southern range of the Carpathian Mountains and otherwise known as the Transylvanian Alps.

There are more than 100 villages dotted around the southern range of the Transylvanian Alps where life is very basic

People use still use rudimentary horse and carts with the only concession to modernity in the form of pneumatic tyres (invented 1845)

Music and dancing are major parts of the culture of the people in the remote region in the centre of Romania

The pictures were taken by photographer Alex Robciuc in various villages around the Maramures County of Romania

Robciuc said: 'The portraits shows people in different places, doing what they usually do; working, celebrating, thinking and hoping'

They date from the 12th century, and are among the last vestiges of European medieval culture.

Robciuc said: 'When people look at my photos, I would like them to appreciate the individuals in the images for the fact that they are preserving the life almost exactly how it was many hundreds of years ago.

'It is not simple to live the way they do and we know that in our days it is simple to choose to be a modern person in every aspect of the life.

'I also want people to look at those faces and to understand that life can be lived in many ways and different conditions, and to believe that the happiness is found in us and not into the things that are around us.'

Robciuc said: 'Unlike most people they are not constantly around technology so they aren't used to having their photo taken'

Robciuc claimed: 'The expressions they hold in the photos are all completely natural as they do not want to appear different than they are'

Commentating on his work, Robciuc said: 'The face captured in the portraits shows how complex a person can be in his simplicity'

The photographer claimed he wanted to capture the people preserving a way of life that was hundreds of years ago

Robciuc said the people he photographed were still living a life that has been lost throughout the rest of Europe

Robciuc claimed: 'When people look at my photos, I would like them to appreciate the individuals in the images for the fact that they are preserving the life almost exactly how it was many hundreds of years ago'

Robciuc passed through the remote region of Romania around December while the people were struggling through a tough winter

Here a mother prepares her son to go to a traditional festival in an outfit which would not have changed much in several generations

Work in the village is hard given the locals use their own strength or animals instead of tractors, quad bikes and machines on the farm