Born in Riga, Latvia, Balčus lived and worked in his home town before moving to London in 2004.
In the photographs he was staging various social rituals that have disappeared from the everyday life in Latvia due to political and economical changes in the past thirty years.
[5] The series Victory Park grappled with questions on Otherness – and more specifically, in the context of Latvia’s complex relationship with Russia, and Russian culture.
[6] In 2014 the series were shown at Street Level Photoworks in Glasgow and Mūkusala Art Centre in Riga.
[7] The series Beyond The Blue River are related to the Zilupe region in Latgale, which on an everyday basis is characterized as economically unstable and politically disloyal to Latvia.