/ 2017 / Book Proposal (series Only) / Documentary

Balkans Revisited

  • Photographer
    Ioanna Sakellaraki, Belgium

This series takes a closer look in the Balkan region and builds a
narrative around memory and territory. In this work, I seek to
reconstruct the 'skeleton' of the lost past nation of Yugoslavia. Where
time stands still, I let the atmosphere replace the narrative. I
backtrack evidence of the idyllic dream of a collectivist utopian society
and I recollect signs of an unrealized future aiming at revisiting the
contemporary Balkan identity. The contested landscapes, appearing
peaceful at first, carry so much tragedy in them. This is what makes
them vulnerable in my eyes. I aim to explore the relationship between
fragility and dominance, sameness and otherness, the past and the
present while building a step by step sincere identity of the Balkans in
transition and more specifically a nation which survived transition.
Revisiting Balkans is about bonding the existing landscape with its
contemporary identity in progress.

I am a Barcroft Media Contributor, visual storyteller and exploration photographer. My educational background and professional experience on journalism and urban culture in combination with my firing passion for photography and travelling have formed today’s projects. I document urban decay, lost architectural ruins and I focus part of my work on memory and territory.

Awards I am a Barcroft Media Contributor, visual storyteller and exploration photographer. My educational background and professional experience on journalism and urban culture in combination with my firing passion for photography and travelling have formed today’s projects. I document urban decay, lost architectural ruins and I focus part of my work on memory and territory.