Christian Lutz October 4, 2010

Srebrenica commemorative walk. Bosnia-Herzegovina 2009

Christian Lutz (b. 1973, Switzerland) studied photography at the Art School Le 75  in Brussels and has been working on stories in the Balkans, in South America, West Africa, in the United States and in Switzerland. His work has been exhibited in a variety of places. His last story “Protokoll” was nominated for the 2007 HSBC Foundation of Photography and won the Nicolas Bouvier Prize in Switzerland. His book “Protokoll” won the German Photography Book Prize 2007. Christian is a member of Agence VU  in Paris.

About the Photograph:

“This march follows the same trail as that of the column of 14 000 men who left Srebrenica on July 11 1995 following the attack of Serbian forces and the abandonment of the “safe zone” by UN forces. It symbolically retraces the path through the main locations of past massacres between Pobudje and Potocari. It is here that each year there is a commemoration to the genocide of Srebenica. At the Potocari memorial, the coffins containing the remains of bodies identified and registered over the year are displayed before being buried.”

Ziyah Gafic September 8, 2008

Ziyah Gafic was born in Sarajevo and graduated from  Sarajevo University. He regularly contributes to magazines and newspapers such as: Liberation, Le Monde 2, La Republica, Photo, Telegraph Magazine, The   L’Espresso, Newsweek and TIME among others. His work has been widely exhibited in Perpignan, Arles, Amsterdam, London, Tokyo, and Geneva  His photo essay about the aftermath of the Bosnian war was published in the book “Tales From Globalizing World”. Honors include: The Ian Parry/ Sunday Times Magazine award and also won 2nd prize of the World Press Photo contest, 2001.  Kodak award for young reporters at Visa pour l’Image, 2002. PDN’s 30 emerging photographers, 2003. Getty Images Grant for Editorial Photography, 2007. Grant from OPA for his project “Muslims of New York”, 2008. His other projects focus on societies in transition; from Bosnia to Rwanda and Chechnya to Iraq.  Ziyak is represented by Getty Images.

About the Photograph:

Growing up in besieged Sarajevo and witnessing the war from the point of view of someone to whom the war was actually happening but not being able to take part in it left me deeply frustrated. Photography allowed me to be on the other side of the event. Frustration grew into determination to document the long and painful aftermath in post-war Bosnia. It was the reason for me becoming a photographer. I knew how reduced and distorted the image of my homeland had become to the rest of the world and I felt obliged to give my best and change that image. I had this extraordinary experience to be on both sides: to be part of the news and to be storyteller myself which gave me a rare inside-out look which determined and shaped my approach to storytelling.