Dokumentarni esej // Documentary essay

Do sedaj sem se v svojem življenju selila že štirikrat. Zato je to četrto mesto, v katerem živim. Zanimivo je, kako vedno mislimo, da se novega kraja morda ne bomo navadili, a se ga kljub temu vedno navadimo. Vsaj pri meni je tako. Verjamem, da ima vsak kraj svojo lepoto in dušo. Lepota moje (razmeroma nove) soseske je v tem, da je stara, a vedno v modi, je blizu središča mesta, vendar je še vedno dovolj daleč in daje občutek, kot da pripadaš skupnosti, četudi nikogar ne poznaš.

Kljub temu, da se nahaja ob najbolj prometni cesti, zahodni tranzit, v Banja Luki in nasploh v Republiki Srbski, je to precej mirna soseska. Ta kompleks stavb je bil zgrajen v osemdesetih letih prejšnjega stoletja in gre za enega zadnjih projektov bivše Jugoslavije. Najbolj značilno je, da so bile stavbe zgrajene v cik-cak strukturi in izdelane iz rumenih fasadnih opek, zato neuradno nosi ime »soseska ŽFC«. Okoli tega kompleksa se gradi veliko novih zgradb in hiš – zato pravim, da je stara, a vedno v modi. Odločila sem se, da se bom osredotočila na tri glavne stvari v svoji soseski: rumene fasadne opeke s cik-cak strukturo stavb, nove gradbene projekte in zahodni tranzit. Namen te serije fotografij je prikazati te tri glavne sestavne dele in njihov medsebojni odnos v različnih urah dneva – lahko so skrivnostne, prav tako pa tople in nedolžne.

// In my life so far, I have moved for four times. Therefore, this is the fourth place I live in. It’s interesting how we always think that we might not get used to the new place but we always do. At least I do. I believe that every place has its own beauty and soul. The beauty of my (relatively new) neighborhood is that it’s old but always fashionable, it’s near the city center but it’s still far enough, and it gives you a feeling as if you belong to the community even if you don’t know anybody.

Despite the fact that it’s located next to the busiest road in Banja Luka and Republic of Srpska in general, the Western transit, it is a pretty quiet neighborhood. This complex of buildings was made sometimes in 1980s, which made it one of the last projects made by the state of ex-Yugoslavia. The most characteristic thing is that buildings were built in a zigzag structure and made out of yellow facade bricks, so the unofficial name stands as “the YFB neighborhood” (in Serbian “ŽFC”). Around this complex, many new buildings and houses are being constructed – that’s why I say it’s old but always fashionable. I decided to focus on three main things about my neighborhood: the yellow facade bricks with zigzag structure of the buildings, new building projects and the Western transit. This series of photographs aims to show these main three components and how they interact in different time of the day – they can be mysterious just as much as they can be warm and innocent.