Branislav Brkić
fotografije - photos

SERBIA
Life Outside the City
Village musicians – Forgotten villages – Shepherd Life

The photographs were taken in recent years in Serbia and show the lives of people living away from modern urban environments, seemingly removed from the everyday bustle of the 21st century.
The exhibition consists of three series of works: “Village Musicians”, “Forgotten Villages”, and “Shepherd Life”.

“Village Musicians”
The photographs in this group were taken in 2009, 2010, and 2011.
Members of the Roma ethnic group are known for their musical talent.
As a rule, these musicians have no formal musical education. From the earliest age, they learn from older, more experienced musicians, and rely primarily on their talent. Many simply enjoy playing music and often manage to support a family to boot .
The majority lives in poverty and plays on old and damaged instruments, which are impossible to tune.
Good violinists are particularly esteemed. There are few of them and they are usually heads of orchestras, with a following of other musicians. From early spring to late fall, they play at various festivities in nearby villages.
Trumpet orchestras are also popular in some parts of Serbia. The best among them participate at the famous, large festival in the village of Guča, in western Serbia, which has been organized continually for the past 50 years.

“Forgotten Villages”
The photographs in this group were taken in the course of 2010 in several villages on Stara planina, a mountain in southeastern Serbia. The stone houses in some of the villages are more than 200 years old but they are deserted. Villages which 30-40 years ago had populations of several thousand inhabitants, now barely have fifty residents, many of them of extremely old age. At this rate these villages will be left without a single resident in the near future.

“Shepherd Life”
The photographs in this group were taken in 2010. They show shepherds in their everyday environment, far from the commotion of urban life and immune to the effects of modern civilization. The fruit of their labor is high quality organic food: cheese, kajmak, and superbly tasting meat. They are, however, rapidly losing the battle against industrial production and there are fewer of them each year.

Branislav Brkić, July 2011.

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