Live Encounters Magazine - Lopamudra Talukdar - Special Edition on Romania - January 2026

2010 - 2025 - 16th A n n i v e r s a r y

Free Online Magazine From Village Earth Special Edition January 2026

Lopamudra Talukdar Rituals of the Snow: Stories from Romania

2026 january © liveencounters.net

LIVE ENCOUNTERS MAGAZINE

01 ©liveencounters.net january 2026 Celebrating 16th Anniversary

January 2026

Support Live Encounters.

Donate Now and Keep the Magazine Live in 2026 Live Encounters is a not-for-profit free online magazine that was founded in 2009 in Bali, Indonesia. It showcases some of the best writing from around the world. Poets, writers, academics, civil & human/animal rights activists, academics, environmentalists, social workers, photographers and more have contributed their time and knowledge for the benefit of the readers of:

Live Encounters Magazine (2010), Live Encounters Poetry & Writing (2016), Live Encounters Young Poets & Writers (2019) and now, Live Encounters Books (August 2020).

We are appealing for donations to pay for the administrative and technical aspects of the publication. Please help by donating any amount for this just cause as events are threatening the very future of Live Encounters.

Om Shanti Shanti Shanti Om Mark Ulyseas Publisher/Editor

All articles and photographs are the copyright of www.liveencounters.net and its contributors.

No part of this publication may be reproduced without the explicit written permission of www. liveencounters.net. Offenders will be criminally prosecuted to the full extent of the law prevailing in their home country and/or elsewhere.

2026 january © liveencounters.net

PUBLISHER/EDITOR

©liveencounters.net january 2026 Celebrating 16th Anniversary

MARK ULYSEAS

Travelling Through Frames This special edition featuring Lopamudra Talukdar’s journey through Romania is an exquisite presentation of a people ‘frozen in time’. Each frame is like a window into the soul of this beautiful country.

Lopamudra uses her camera as an extension of herself, her impression of an image transported from reality to digital without the dilution of sense and soul. This, in way, can be viewed as travelling through frames with the photographer acting as the artist creating images as we move from page to another.

This is truly a fabulous experience.

Much gratitude to Lopamudra for sharing her work with our readers worldwide.

This is the first in a series of special editions through 2026 featuring photographers who exist within their frames.

Mark Ulyseas Publisher/Editor

2026 january © liveencounters.net

STORIES FROM ROMANIA

Lopamudra Talukdar ©liveencounters.net january 2026 Celebrating 16th Anniversary

LOPAMUDRA TALUKDAR Lopamudra Talukdar is a Kolkata-based documentary and street photographer who views herself primarily as a traveler and a lifelong student of world culture. For Lopamudra, photography is the ultimate medium for exploring and documenting the human condition. Her work spans a diverse spectrum of subjects—from preserving the visual history of vanishing cultures and nomadic lifestyles to capturing the vibrancy of religious rituals and candid street moments.

With a global footprint ranging from New York to Paris, Lopamudra has covered major international events, including the FIFA World Cups in Russia and Qatar and the Summer Olympics in Paris. Her portfolio includes assignments for National Geographic Traveler and contributions to numerous international travel and in-flight magazines. She is a Fujifilm X-Photographer and Global Ambassador. Beyond her personal projects, she is a dedicated educator, mentoring aspiring photographers and leading workshops worldwide. Her work has been exhibited and awarded globally.

https://www.lopamudra.photography/

Lopamudra Talukdar Rituals of the Snow: Stories from Romania a photo feature Winter arrived slowly, as if it had been waiting for its moment to claim the land. It began with the rhythmic clatter of a train cutting through the endless white, the frosted windows framing a world that felt heavier, stretched, and unhurried. Outside, the landscape blurred into a painting of muted greys and brilliant whites, a prelude to a place where time moves differently—almost circular.

In the Romani villages, surrounded by fields wrapped in deep snow, everything seemed familiar, as though these paths had been walked many times before, in another life. Horse-drawn carts dashed through the drifts, the steam of the animals’ breath mixing with the sharp air, their hooves beating a syncopated rhythm against the silence. It was a scene etched in monochrome, vibrant with the energy of survival.

The old men moved quietly through the streets, their faces carrying years of stories, of seasons repeated and remembered. There was no hurry in their steps—only the rhythm of time lived fully. Watching them, it felt as if age was not a burden, but a gentle companion, one that knew the way even when the road disappeared under the snow. © Lopamudra Talukdar 2026 january © liveencounters.net

STORIES FROM ROMANIA

Christmas unfolded here not as a mere event, but as a profound continuation. In the heart of Bucovina, ancient rituals shook the village squares. The bear dance erupted— wild and rhythmic—bodies moving under heavy skins to the beat of drums, echoing beliefs older than memory. These were not performances for an audience, but acts of remembrance passed from one generation to the next, a bridge to a primordial past.

Yet, there was stillness too. Inside the stone walls of medieval churches, the air grew thick with reverence. The sound of Christmas carols rose to meet vaulted ceilings, the harmonies resonating against centuries-old frescoes. In that hallowed light, the cold outside was forgotten, replaced by a warmth that felt eternal.

Here, time did not move forward; it folded in on itself. Past and present met in the same frame—in the rush of a horse cart, in the weight of an elderly gaze, in the chanting of a carol, and in the white landscape that erased boundaries between then and now.

This photo story is a journey through that pause—where the train’s whistle, the dancer’s drum, and the choir’s song merge into one slow breath. A place where age is not forgotten, rituals are not staged, and time, for a while, chooses to stay.

©liveencounters.net january 2026 Celebrating 16th Anniversary

LOPAMUDRA TALUKDAR

02

© Lopamudra Talukdar 2026 january © liveencounters.net

STORIES FROM ROMANIA

03

©liveencounters.net january 2026 Celebrating 16th Anniversary

LOPAMUDRA TALUKDAR

© Lopamudra Talukdar 2026 january © liveencounters.net

STORIES FROM ROMANIA

04

©liveencounters.net january 2026 Celebrating 16th Anniversary

LOPAMUDRA TALUKDAR

© Lopamudra Talukdar 2026 january © liveencounters.net

STORIES FROM ROMANIA

05

©liveencounters.net january 2026 Celebrating 16th Anniversary

LOPAMUDRA TALUKDAR

© Lopamudra Talukdar 2026 january © liveencounters.net

STORIES FROM ROMANIA

06

©liveencounters.net january 2026 Celebrating 16th Anniversary

LOPAMUDRA TALUKDAR

© Lopamudra Talukdar 2026 january © liveencounters.net

STORIES FROM ROMANIA

07

©liveencounters.net january 2026 Celebrating 16th Anniversary

LOPAMUDRA TALUKDAR

© Lopamudra Talukdar 2026 january © liveencounters.net

STORIES FROM ROMANIA

08

©liveencounters.net january 2026 Celebrating 16th Anniversary

LOPAMUDRA TALUKDAR

© Lopamudra Talukdar 2026 january © liveencounters.net

STORIES FROM ROMANIA

09

©liveencounters.net january 2026 Celebrating 16th Anniversary

LOPAMUDRA TALUKDAR

© Lopamudra Talukdar 2026 january © liveencounters.net

STORIES FROM ROMANIA

10

©liveencounters.net january 2026 Celebrating 16th Anniversary

LOPAMUDRA TALUKDAR

© Lopamudra Talukdar 2026 january © liveencounters.net

STORIES FROM ROMANIA

11

©liveencounters.net january 2026 Celebrating 16th Anniversary

LOPAMUDRA TALUKDAR

© Lopamudra Talukdar 2026 january © liveencounters.net

STORIES FROM ROMANIA

12

©liveencounters.net january 2026 Celebrating 16th Anniversary

LOPAMUDRA TALUKDAR

© Lopamudra Talukdar 2026 january © liveencounters.net

STORIES FROM ROMANIA

13

©liveencounters.net january 2026 Celebrating 16th Anniversary

LOPAMUDRA TALUKDAR

© Lopamudra Talukdar 2026 january © liveencounters.net

STORIES FROM ROMANIA

14

©liveencounters.net january 2026 Celebrating 16th Anniversary

LOPAMUDRA TALUKDAR

© Lopamudra Talukdar 2026 january © liveencounters.net

STORIES FROM ROMANIA

15

©liveencounters.net january 2026 Celebrating 16th Anniversary

LOPAMUDRA TALUKDAR

© Lopamudra Talukdar 2026 january © liveencounters.net

STORIES FROM ROMANIA

16

©liveencounters.net january 2026 Celebrating 16th Anniversary

LOPAMUDRA TALUKDAR

© Lopamudra Talukdar 2026 january © liveencounters.net

STORIES FROM ROMANIA

17

©liveencounters.net january 2026 Celebrating 16th Anniversary

LOPAMUDRA TALUKDAR

© Lopamudra Talukdar 2026 january © liveencounters.net

STORIES FROM ROMANIA

18

©liveencounters.net january 2026 Celebrating 16th Anniversary

LOPAMUDRA TALUKDAR

© Lopamudra Talukdar 2026 january © liveencounters.net

STORIES FROM ROMANIA

19

©liveencounters.net january 2026 Celebrating 16th Anniversary

LOPAMUDRA TALUKDAR

© Lopamudra Talukdar 2026 january © liveencounters.net

STORIES FROM ROMANIA

20

©liveencounters.net january 2026 Celebrating 16th Anniversary

LOPAMUDRA TALUKDAR

© Lopamudra Talukdar 2026 january © liveencounters.net

STORIES FROM ROMANIA

21

©liveencounters.net january 2026 Celebrating 16th Anniversary

LOPAMUDRA TALUKDAR

© Lopamudra Talukdar 2026 january © liveencounters.net

STORIES FROM ROMANIA

22

©liveencounters.net january 2026 Celebrating 16th Anniversary

LOPAMUDRA TALUKDAR

© Lopamudra Talukdar 2026 january © liveencounters.net

STORIES FROM ROMANIA

23

©liveencounters.net january 2026 Celebrating 16th Anniversary

LOPAMUDRA TALUKDAR

© Lopamudra Talukdar 2026 january © liveencounters.net

STORIES FROM ROMANIA

24

©liveencounters.net january 2026 Celebrating 16th Anniversary

LOPAMUDRA TALUKDAR

© Lopamudra Talukdar 2026 january © liveencounters.net

STORIES FROM ROMANIA

25

©liveencounters.net january 2026 Celebrating 16th Anniversary

LOPAMUDRA TALUKDAR

© Lopamudra Talukdar 2026 january © liveencounters.net

STORIES FROM ROMANIA

26

©liveencounters.net january 2026 Celebrating 16th Anniversary

LOPAMUDRA TALUKDAR

© Lopamudra Talukdar 2026 january © liveencounters.net

STORIES FROM ROMANIA

27

©liveencounters.net january 2026 Celebrating 16th Anniversary

LOPAMUDRA TALUKDAR

© Lopamudra Talukdar 2026 january © liveencounters.net

STORIES FROM ROMANIA

28

©liveencounters.net january 2026 Celebrating 16th Anniversary

LOPAMUDRA TALUKDAR

© Lopamudra Talukdar 2026 january © liveencounters.net

STORIES FROM ROMANIA

29

©liveencounters.net january 2026 Celebrating 16th Anniversary

LOPAMUDRA TALUKDAR

© Lopamudra Talukdar 2026 january © liveencounters.net

STORIES FROM ROMANIA

30

©liveencounters.net january 2026 Celebrating 16th Anniversary

LOPAMUDRA TALUKDAR

© Lopamudra Talukdar 2026 january © liveencounters.net

2010 - 2025 - 16th A n n i v e r s a r y

Free Online Magazine From Village Earth Special Edition January 2026

©liveencounters.net january 2026 Celebrating 16th Anniversary