Artist Elena Raceala shoots moody, dream-like photographs combining elements of street photography and surrealism. She was born and raised in Constanta, Romania, a harbor city on the shores of the Black Sea. As a young woman, Elena says, "I did not know what I wanted to do, what represented me." She went on to study nursing and currently works as a nurse at Constanta County and Emergency Clinical Hospital. Her breakthrough into photography occurred on a rainy morning in 2013 while vacationing in Naples, Italy. Standing among the columns of the San Francesco di Paola church, Elena captured the first photograph to which she is dearly attached. "From that moment on, a part of me lives and breathes through photography," she says. Elena pursued her passion, first attending workshops and photography courses and later earning a degree. Today, she seeks out new subject matter on trips to the city and beaches near her home, as well as in Bucharest, the capital of Romania. In 2020, she had her first solo exhibition at the Constanta Art Museum and at Constanta FotoFest 2020.