The story about youth in the Balkans is something i became very interested in recently. After working in Romania, i decided to try to find some answers in my own country, Serbia. Focus of the story is slightly different this time, but basic idea is intact: How do young people live today? What is significant for their lives, what are their dreams, and can they ever be reached? I was working in city named Paracin in central Serbia for one month. What became clear to me is that there is a mixture of very gray reality of everyday life and colorful world of dreams. There is little left for this young people to build their lives on. Destroyed factories, ruined infrastructure, week educational system, high level of unemployment... They have to run away in search for better life. And those who didn't have choice are trying to survive in very hard circumstances. Hope, and often heavy drinking, help them throughout day. In their world, there is a lot of confusion. Dreams and reality mix, but don't have much in common.
I am doing this project as one of participants of World Press Photo and Robert Bosch foundation Masterclass for young photographers from Southeastern Europe.
