Aerial Views

I feel like I've been MIA for a while [fact]. I had a injury involving an awl, my ulna nerve, and arm surgery in the last week and a half. So things have been crazy and I haven't really done much except eat pain killers, but I am back in action[ish]. Fully recovery will take a month, but I am somewhat functional now. I should be blogging more from the photo shoots I've been editing and the images I'll be taking over this next week, so don't you worry, I didn't fall off the face of the earth. Also, I finished picking out my Bosnia project, so I'll be writing all the statements and captions and submitting to galleries, so be looking forward to that as well. And possibly I'll have a new website soon? Get ready.

[images from the many aerial adventures I've been on recently]

[Non] Fiction

Before going to Sarajevo, I had an idea in my head of what it would be like. It went something along the lines of carnivals, Beirut playing in the mountains, and Gogol Bordello following me down the street along with other gypsies tagging along. I know I was crazy, but I still had the little hope that Sarajevo would really be like that. It is founded a lot off of this Serbian 1998 film titled Black Cat, White Cat in which, basically all of the above happens. [Note: Serbia and Bosnia are neighbors, once together under the name of Yugoslavia] I knew that it was only a movie, but still having hope as I did find a carnival and get followed by gypsies and accordions and to top the cake, this man asked me to photograph him and it looks like a scene from the film. So perhaps I wasn't completely crazy for thinking the way I did.

War Child

"They call me war kid. I love war. I love guns and war games like Ultimate Conquest. I am war kid. I hate _____. I want to kill all of them. In Bosnia here all we want is peace."
-Kenan, 14 years old, a lover, not a fighter, but really a fighter.

A man named Tito [a short story]

There once was a man named Tito. Josip Brz Tito. If there has ever been a man that was loved by a country, it was Tito. As he lived, Yugoslavia was united and happy. Houses, cars, and jobs were raffled off to the people and a group who had various religious and cultural backgrounds were able to come together in one name. Tito died in 1980. A few years later as tensions grew, Yugoslavia broke out with war and broke apart. Tensions are still there, thirty years and wars between Serbia, Croatia, and Bosnia later. There is on thing that still unifies the groups, and that is a love for Tito. His pictures are everywhere, his name spray painted on walls, and the older generations that remember him fondly talk of how wonderful of a leader he was.

Asymetrical Home

A home in the neighborhood next door. Sarajevo, Bosnia.

Interiors and Exteriors of Butcher Shops, Bosnia

Interior: Sarajevo
Exterior: Zenica

Ermelinda.

My neighbor in Bosnia, Ermelinda [Linda].
Photograph taken in her home with her drawing board from architectural school.

Lipstick.

"They all had the same lipstick stain."
At a taxi que, Sarajevo, Bosnia.

Office Interiors, Sarajevo

The first is from a car dealership while the second is from a random office both in Sarajevo. The first struck me because it was just a desk, chair, and a piece of paper on the wall next to the window looking out over a building bombed during their recent civil war. This is the first building that I really saw that was destroyed by the war, on my first full day in the city. I had driven into town and went on a small tour with Linda, the woman whose family I lived with. On this tour we went around and she shower me Center, while running a few errands. One of which was to get her car fixed. As we sat in the office, I noticed the next office over and the building that once was there, now as a view for the customer.

The second is just an office, the only thing in it, a phone. Not even a table for it to sit on. This is in probably one of my favorite buildings in Sarajevo, green and yellow. More pictures of that to come, potentially even its own blog post.

Group of Children, Gypsy by Birth.

I know that gypsies are not exactly the most trustworthy people, crying over "dead" children, holding fake babies, or laughing and then the moment they see you start sobbing and asking for money. But, I still love them. Maybe because I am jealous at how free they are to just do whatever, granted, their lives are hard because they have to beg and steal for everything they want and need, but yet, they are free. You can especially tell this with the children. Perhaps it is because they don't understand yet, or because they are kids just like every other kid, except they are not told to stay out of the dirt and can just play in the park all day and not go to school and not have to put on shoes. For a kid, sounds like quite the life. For me, that sounds ideal. They love being photographed though, which I should have taken more advantage of. However, they do demand money for it, or cherries, or sometimes both then they jump on you to try to take whatever they can out of your bag or pockets. Nonetheless, I still love them and slightly envy them.

Themed old mattress and exterior of a home

If you start in Old Town and walk up the crooked stone street near Baščaršija, veer towards the right past the metal workers and the large graveyard. Continue to climb up the steep streets, past the women hanging their clothing, stop for a drink at the fountain at the top of one stretch, and continue climbing. Eventually you will find a Muslim graveyard with two gravediggers who appear at every Muslim graveyard it seems, they will offer water. Take it, they are good people. Turn to the right and walk past a few homes and you will see a spectacular view, with Sarajevo on one side, and the city-less valley on the other. Continue to walk towards the military base and you will find this home, in between many trees and under the sky, with a beautiful garden, chickens, and a mattress sitting outside the front door which perfectly matches the rest of the home.

Double Vision.

Playgrounds and remnants of war

A slide, graffiti, and bullet holes.

The Tunnel

There is an underground path that goes from one part of Sarajevo to the airport, under once Serbian lines as a method of escape and to get resources. This week on for a a few hundred meters, as people hunched over walked in hopes of escaping war. The tunnel is still around today, although you can only walk 25 meters through it with a museum on top filled with photographs of war and a film of home footage of the siege. This home claims to be the exit of the tunnel, however, it is still heavily disputed with the neighbor across the street (first picture) who claims to the point of painting it on his house, that his home is the real portal to the tunnel.

The cost of entrance to this site: 5km plus a taxi to the obscure home, sitting in a typical neighborhood.

The Piano

A piano. Shot during the Portland wedding.

Graveyard of the Dead 1992-1995

There is a graveyard on the north side of Sarajevo specifically for those who died in the recent civil war. I don't know the story correctly, so I won't tell it, but it is a graveyard specifically for either the Christian Orthodox of Serbia or the Catholics of Croatia. I'm not sure, but what I do know is the graveyard is quite large with over probably a thousand tombstones. And that was just for those who could make it to a graveyard to bury those they love, there are plenty of tombstones in every patch of grass you see in the city and out. And that is what I do know.

Boots and Tub.

The other day I was thinking about double exposures and how much I love them. There is just a mystery and charm to them that is hard to capture with photography. I needed a break from my documentary work and figured heading outside for some double exposures would do the trick and be refreshing, a little surprise when I got my roll developed.

Protest.

A recent protest of the Turkish community regarding the seize of the ship in Gaza.

Fort Stevens State Park, Oregon

Shipwreck on the coast at Fort Stevens State Park, Oregon.

The garden, Ilidža

I live out in a nature area of sorts called Ilidža, where since it's a nature area, there should be no homes, but I live in one anyways. It's beautiful, with long paths that lead to the springs which it is famous for. My house has a beautiful garden with two dogs and two children. The gate is broken, so you have to go across boards and under trees to get to the house, making it feel like you are going through the woods to find your home. These are a few shots from the garden. The first one, I'm not sure what happened. It's fine on the negative, but when I edited it, it went crazy, but I liked it, so I kept it.