We Are Women book release

There has been an on-going project that I have been a small part of over the last year nearly. Collecting images and stories, the We Are Women project has been compiling a book of all these things. It's finally put together and the book will be available from lulu.com on Tuesday, 28 September as a soft cover book ($11) and pdf/ebook ($7). Before then, however, there will be a book release party to whoever is interested on Monday 27 September. Flier is above.

Hamu, the accordion player.

Hamu, the accordion player is famous in Bosnia. There are stories of hearing his music and his wailing as he plays from blocks away all over Bosnia. There are accounts of his music being heard since he was just a young boy. He still is a young boy, which must only mean he's been at this since the day he could span his fingers across the keys. He will play for change, for cherries, or for nothing he will still sit on the streets and play.

[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.

8pm-10am

Next time I make Sarajevo my home, I plan on living between 8pm and 10am, that is when the city is the nicest.

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.

Working Identities: Chapman Public Library, Salt Lake City

Potentially your last chance to see Working Identities!
September-October 2010
Chapman Public Library, Salt Lake City, Utah

Opening reception: This Saturday! 4 Sept, 4-5pm. There will be food, books, and my art hanging on the walls.

However, if you end up missing it all together, you can always buy the book...

A Contrast of Interiors

A restaurant and a shop, the first in Mostar the second in Sarajevo. Donor kebab is the only food served in this store, thus the picture of the only served menu item. The only difference is small, medium, or large; salad, tomatoes, cucumbers, onion, and a yogurt sauce for variety. The shop is ran by a man would would talk to me for hours about the Soviet cameras for sale, piled in a basket along with trinkets from Tito's reign of former Yugoslavia.

The girl who feeds the cats

"I feed the cats because if I do not, no one else will."

-Ines, 7th grade, Sarajevo.

Mostar Mannequins

It took me nearly three weeks to leave Sarajevo and start exploring other parts of Bosnia. I got really attached really fast and had a hard time leaving. I finally got further than just 30 minutes outside of the city and went to Mostar, planning on staying for a week and travel to various other surrounding areas as well as Croatia and Slovenia. Having my bag packed for a week, I took off. Mostar is a split city. One side Muslim the other Catholic with only a bridge to connect the two sides. During the war the bridge was destroyed, fifteen years ago. It was not re-completed until just four years ago. Needless to say, the tensions between the two sides are strong. Walking around, I did not feel more comfortable on either side and after some really bad encounters with people there, my week long trip lasted 4 hours until I took the last bus out for Međugorje.
This mannequin is from a bridal shop in a store front on the Muslim side of Mostar. It really made me laugh at the time because even the mannequins were destroyed, missing fingers, and having disheveled hair. It was kind of how I felt after only spending four hours there. Nearly everyone else I talked to loved Mostar. Perhaps I just had a bad experience or since I didn't go with anyone else I was more in danger. Whatever it was that made me feel bad energy, I left feeling much like this mannequin looked.

Man under siege/the bridge.

Man in a suit, sitting on a slab of cardboard underneath the bridge I cross to get to Sarajevo from the suburb of Ilidža. He told me stories and stories as I sat by the river next to him, none of which I could understand due to a language barrier. I could not get his name because he could not hear me asking, he went deaf because of the bombs dropping during the war.

Store fronts and window shoppers

The them is tights, which seems to be the theme of many shops. Just about every shop displays a wonderful variety; however, when you go to purchase, check inside the box, many times a different (and more boring) variety and size is inside. It's tricky, but the amazing tights do exist in Bosnia.

Carnival: Sarajevo.

Carnival for a reason I could not figure out, but it was fun nonetheless. My favorite was on one side of the swing ride was "Hotel Sarajevo" and on the other side was communist block housing. I found it interesting the juxtaposition of the carnival ride with each of those things.

Dog.

Stretching.

Hip Hop Girls, Sarajevo

"We're into hip hop. There aren't many beautiful things here because we're used to it, once we are done with school we hope to leave this place. There are not many hip hop people here, everyone thinks we're crazy for it. We just love the style of everyone."
-Džemeta & Adma, fifteen years old.
Photo taken while they were taking pictures with a friend's camera phone in a park in Sarajevo.

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.

Three Generations and Cigarettes

Three women, sitting on a tall stoop outside of their home smoking cigarettes.

My project is still a secret (because I am still working on it and don't want to say exactly what it is yet mostly), but I can almost guarantee that this image will be in my exhibit.

Gyspy Boy with Popsicle

I have made it back and found a few moments to start scanning in negatives from my project (horray!). I haven't developed all my rolls yet, but I figured I'd at least get a good head start on things by scanning some in.

This is a gypsy boy who I ran into on a side street. He was rummaging behind a garbage can in this back room to find his coat. Although it was cold, he still was eating a popsicle, which he insisted on being photographed with.