Just because bullets stop flying doesn’t mean the war is over.
While I was doing relief and journalism work in Sarajevo, Bosnia (2007), for months I walked the (then) bullet riddled streets of Sarajevo, observing environments and human behavior.
I was enthralled particularly by the societal affects of the Bosnian War that ravaged this area and its peoples in the 1990s. Deeply affected by my experiences, I returned in 2009 to gain further knowledge.
I have heard tales from honest and good people forced to survive with less than the bare essentials for survival, while they and their loved ones fought a war where its origin and justification remain unclear to many of them.
While there is much history to this tale, these resilient people were starved, tortured, raped, shelled and shot. And for what?
Bosnians, in my opinion, are examples of the human spirit’s profound ability to survive, for life to prosper, people to heal and forgive one another, for a society to literally rise from the ashes – rebuild, against all odds, what could not be taken; what was possibly never really lost. They can teach people how to live.
This photojournalism piece offers insight into a post Bosnian War society.