[wzslider autoplay=”true” info=”true”]The British Guardian published this morning photo story about Sarajevo, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement, which ended the siege of Sarajevo after almost 4 years of war. The author is a documentary photographer Chris Leslie, who visited the capital of B&H and presented how Sarajevo looks today through photos.
“The Dayton peace agreement was signed in Paris 20 years ago today, ending nearly four years of brutal war between Serbs, Croats and Bosniaks and bringing an end to the siege of Sarajevo, the longest in modern history,” remained Guardian.
“The world has changed dramatically since 1995: the 9-11 attacks, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the Arab Spring. Bosnia has slipped off the radar for the western world.”
“In April 1992, as Yugoslavia broke into independent nations, the city of Sarajevo fell under attack from Bosnian Serb military groups with the backing of the Serb-dominated Yugoslav army, who were against Bosnian independence. The Bosnian Serbs encircled the city and placed Sarajevo’s 500,000 citizens under siege. Sarajevo was bombarded by artillery and snipers picked off residents as they walked in the streets,” wrote Guardian.
“The Dayton agreement, brokered by the US, created two highly autonomous entities inside Bosnia: the Bosniak-Croat majority federation and the Serb majority Republika Srpska,” reminded Guardian.
Author of the photos of Sarajevo Chris Leslie photographed details in the capital of B&H. He recorded the Gazi Husrev bey Mosque, Bascarsija, as well as modern buildings that arose in recent years.
“The capital puts on a brave and bold cosmopolitan face for the international community and tourists – but beneath the surface nationalism, corruption and mismanagement plague civic life, while people from all backgrounds struggle to make a basic living.”
With his camera, he also recorded the war wounds of Sarajevo, shrapnel holes in buildings, the remains of the hotel Igman, as well as the memorial to children of Sarajevo killed in the war, and the sculpture “Nermin, come here”, which is the most distressing documented picture of Srebrenica.
“We could have easily settled overseas, we had the opportunity. But Bosnia is our home and Sarajevo is our city and I wanted to bring them back home,” said Hamdo from Sarajevo.
Leslie also took a photo of Zetra “where Torvill and Dean won gold in the 1984 Winter Olympics,” as well as the Holiday Inn hotel and the train station in Sarajevo.
(Source: klix.ba and theguardian.com)
