Balkan in Memoriam

The evolution of the conflict in the Balkans—from the disintegration of Yugoslavia in 1991 to the fall of Milosevic in 2000—is documented in this photojournalistic documentary. The tragedy of war speaks through empty gazes, ever-present rifles, anonymous ruins, and wrinkles of sadness, but the photography is not merely a document of the Serbo-Croatian War. The hope of the postwar period and possibility of new horizons emerge through the photos, as do the quotidian sense of waiting, of work, of memories, and of resistance.

The evolution of the conflict in the Balkans—from the disintegration of Yugoslavia in 1991 to the fall of Milosevic in 2000—is documented in this photojournalistic documentary. The tragedy of war speaks through empty gazes, ever-present rifles, anonymous ruins, and wrinkles of sadness, but the photography is not merely a document of the Serbo-Croatian War. The hope of the postwar period and possibility of new horizons emerge through the photos, as do the quotidian sense of waiting, of work, of memories, and of resistance.

Sandra Balsells is a photojournalist who covered the Balkans for the Times throughout the Sebo-Croatian war. Her photos have been published in the Evening Standard, El Mundo, the New York Times, the Observer, Today, the Toronto Star, La Vanguardia, and Woman.