tourism from the italian and german, english and scandinavian parts of europe as well as from within croatia itself is booming in places.
there is antipathy towards some areas of the business.. the all-inclusive resorts with wrist band wearing clients who do little or nothing to feed the local area are reluctantly accepted.
tourism has the potential to be big business here, with so much coastline and crystal clear sea, yet i am told that any profit rarely filters down to people in the form of social benefits or improved infrastructure.
big business has moved in from richer countries and purchased many of the most profitable companies and some people have the opinion that there is little left for the croatians themselves..
i’m trying to say little at this time about discussions i’m having here for the simple reason this is the first week of 5, and in time more will become clear. for now i am just really enjoying the photography, the conversations and seeing where one thing and another will lead me.. easing into it gently.
finding reconstruction in villages and towns is really quite easy – there is a lot of it going on in terms of new housing and development, industry and holiday resorts.. individuals and business moving on.
one of the strangest things i have found in this region is roads-to-nowhere. these grids of high quality roads and pavements have been seen next to minefields and deserted villages… like sprawling suburban or industrial areas, minus the buildings.
some locals allege that corruption is feeding the new construction and conflict of interests benefiting certain individuals.. some say that several new developments are not needed
moving inland, though, the veil of normality is generally thinner.. unable to say much for the time being.. still exploring.. still photographing.. yet some destroyed houses stand alone in villages which were relatively untouched by fighting..
my family and i are spending 5 weeks in croatia at the moment, undertaking 4 or 5 projects with the intention of forming a 10 years after, (or there about), study – during this year that croatia has again been refused entry to the e.u. due to it’s northern border dispute.
the first project is to investigate and document reconstruction along the old front-line, perhaps working across into bosnia as well, and in doing so i thought it best to start at the beginning.. with the devastation.
there are a string of ghost villages.. uninhabited due to landmines or simply because the damage was well beyond repair and also peripheral areas of villages and towns, particularly small towns, where damage has not been repaired due to funds…
more info later.. whilst actually photographing i would like to learn much more than i now know and research specific geographical areas before saying more.
as interesting as the project is it’s also important for me to respect that the war is still very fresh.. neighbors were fighting neighbors in the region i am currently working.
while photographing as positively as possible i have already been made aware of just how close to the surface the friction is.. with one village in particular taking exception to my working there.
it’s quickly become obvious that treading carefully and negotiating access & conversation very gently is the name of the game, even when photographing something as innocuous as a ruined building..
other developing projects are centering around;
-the youth culture movement and punk, bringing young people around the region back together
-tourism and neo-colonialism, which is a double edged sword i’ll expand upon later
-the northern border dispute which is preventing entry to the e.u. and
-finally the poverty problems in serbia which continue to this day due to sanctions imposed after the war.
tourism from the italian and german, english and scandinavian parts of europe as well as from within croatia itself is booming in places.
there is antipathy towards some areas of the business.. the all-inclusive resorts with wrist band wearing clients who do little or nothing to feed the local area are reluctantly accepted.
tourism has the potential to be big business here, with so much coastline and crystal clear sea, yet i am told that any profit rarely filters down to people in the form of social benefits or improved infrastructure.
big business has moved in from richer countries and purchased many of the most profitable companies and some people have the opinion that there is little left for the croatians themselves..
recent comments