Bojan Salaj

methods

What? How? Why?

“Snapshot of a photojournalist” is a photographic project that I started working on in 1989, at the time when serious conflicts of interest between the federate republics appeared in the Yugoslavia and which soon after resulted in a bloody war that lasted until the signing of the Dayton Agreement in 1995. I will focus on the event on May 27th in 1992, in Vase Miskina Street in the then-besieged Sarajevo, when three grenades flew from the surrounding hills into the people waiting in line for bread. 26 people died and many were wounded. A few minutes later, while victims were still in blood ponds, the massacre was recorded on VHS by one of many journalists’ team in Sarajevo at the time. And a few more minutes later the footage was sent into the world TV network. All three sides (Serbs, Bosnians, Croats) that were involved in the conflict accused the others of crime against civilians and at the same time the tragedy was (ab)used for propaganda purposes as each had its own television station. How? The photographs I took for the project “Snapshots” were made in the comfort of my home living room. I simply set my 135 mm camera on a tripod at the front of the television screen and photographed - documented the events on the TV that I found interesting. The event from Vase Miskina Street consists of a composition of 16 photos measuring 60 x 80 cm. The ratio 3:4 was the standard TV box screen ratio at the time and the same composition of 16 TV boxes was very popular on various spectacular layouts and presentations. After editing I printed selected photographs in a large scale and later exhibited them in the gallery context. Why? In the 80s and 90s, television was arguably the most influential mass media and as such completely dominated the creation of public opinion. The photos that were published in the newspapers just followed all this. I still remember how in the early morning hours of January 1990 we were waiting for the start of the Gulf War. The time and date were known to everyone. The stage for the live broadcasting was set. Spectacle was guaranteed. And if the camera's view of the Gulf War was distanced from the victims, this changed radically in the Yugoslavia War. The images of the war in Yugoslavia depicted the atrocities brutally vividly and in detail. It seemed as if we were completely numb to the sight of the other's pain. My response to all this was very direct. I, thought it is important to point out the way the war is presented through images, the role of the media, and in this way encourage discussion about the issue.