Sarajevo

I went five times to Bosnia during the conflict, back in the early 90's.

And this is one of the pictures important for me, being a witness of what was happening.

More work at

http://www.jb-avril.com

this is very interesting to me! a nice report shot

6/6.

As a document, this photo can not improve. Very strong message

 

 

War always leads to one thing, and you managed to capture this, in a subtile but effective way.

 

As an image you could not have done better.

 

 

Eamon

Excellent photojournalism. The photo is as sad as the idea we can solve problems through the destructive mechanism of war and death.

The fog/ mist adds to the heavy, funereal atmosphere.

This is the way of war, how dreadful; you've done well to communicate at such a deep level.Regards, Seven

definitely, a deeper level photograph.

Wow, this picture is realy great. I can feel it, it's like I'm there. It is great in black & white. There is a lot of drama in this picture.

Yes, it's a great picture. I see (by the ratings) the aesthetics of it is somehow questioned.But how could it be measured ? In numbers? No way. It could be only compared with other great war photos and not with pictures of flowers. Originality? Difficult to say. It's a common war practice depicted many times. Nevertheless, the photo is great. Maybe, by its direct and heavy impact on the very human essence. Nothing to add, nothing to make point of. You could just stare down there. Great PJ work, Jean-Baptiste. Regards. Blago

This photo needed a caption for one thing only . . . so we would know what war and what decade. So many wars, so many fields full of bodies and crosses . . . strewn across Europe. These crosses are a little different than those found in the cemeteries across, say, France, but there's no mistaking the gruesome harvest of death that war reaps.

 

And death creeps in sometimes like the fog that engulfs this graveyard; in one war it came in green chlorine gas that crept over the trenches and choked the soldiers to death, and in that same war others perished in blinding flashes of light or being forced to march into guns spitting bullets and operated like machines (machine guns) because their side's ideology of fighting had not yet progressed to the idea that it must change to deal with the enemy's new technology . . . so off they marched or ran into a rain of bullets their outstretched hands could not stop.

 

And in the next major war, death came in all the former ways, except the gas (for the soldiers at least because Hitler abhorred the gas -- he had been a soldier in WWI and thought that there was one thing no HUMAN should be subjected to and that was the gas -- Jews weren't human, however, as we found, or so he reasoned).

 

The wars have marched on, and the killing has marched on apace, and continues to this day, and the crosses continue to sprout from the killing fields and somehow we're supposed to applaud those soldiers who die retrieving their dead buddies' bodies . . . as if that were somehow more noble.

 

But in the end . . . worm food, with the cold earth, and the cold fog over the cold earth and an eternity for the mankind running the world to look for its folly.

 

I've been to war, and examined its complexities and when you're there, its folly is not so clearcut as it appears in retrospect -- it's all about bullets, buddies, body bags, babies and even babes when on leave -- a confusing jumble (I was a civilian with a camera).

 

Only when viewed through photos like this excellent work, can we reflect on the ultimate tragedy of the father (or mother) who can't ever cuddle the infant, teach a child to ride a bike, tutor a teenager on how to deal with the opposite sex's disregard on a bad day, or spoil a grandchild.

 

It all stops here, in the graveyard.

 

Excellent photo.

 

Among the best.

 

B & W is the only way to present it.

 

Especially with the body in a white body bag.

 

Highest regards, asethetically, philosophically, morally and in all other planes.

 

John (Crosley)

THIS is a photo. Technically, it is really good. But the real quality of this photo comes from the message it gives.

 

The field filled with crosses is really showing the quantity of people that lost their lives during that war. But the lonely body we can see wrapped in white also shows the individuality of each of those death persons. This is not just one among all the others, this is an individual.

 

I also find the body wrapped in white full of symbolism, at least to me. I find white representing peace and hope for a better futur for all survivors. Kind of saying that this individual is not death in vain.

 

Very strong photo. I can understand how it is important to you.

(needs no words in any decade)

That picture was taken in the lion cemetery during my second trip to Bosnia, around December 92. That place used to be a public park near the Kosevo hospital, and was turned into a cemetery due to the war, and proximity from that hospital.

That was very early in the foggy morning, the burial of an unidentified fighter and the mix of crosses and sticks of wood was due to the supposely religion of the victims. A cross for Cristians and a stick for Muslims. All re-united in death, as well as they were united under the shelling for the attackers, without any distinction. Shells don't think, they just kill. If I recall well the figures, over 30.000 people died during the siege of Sarajevo, including 10.000 children...

Thank's again to all for your interest into this tragedy!

Best regards

http://www.jb-avril.com

Very compelling image; outstanding composition.

magic work !!!

Very good message.very impressive.Greeting

Impressive. Truly a case were "an image is worth a thousand words".

I could compare it only to the great WWII photos, so impressive this one is. And it's not the religion, there's no conflict of Muslims against Christians, these people have lived together for centuries. A handful of men decided to be so for no meaningful reasons. They were neiboughers and they'll be neiboughers forever. No religions in the grayveyard - mixture of crosses and sticks (replacing the usual stones typical for Muslims). That's what you could see only on Balkans! Memorable photo ! Congratulations for the POW, Jean Baptiste ! Regards. Blago

Thank's a lot for choosing this work as a POW.

I believe I owe some more explanations about it...

I got this picture during my second stay in Bosnia, during Dcember 92. Coming back after

my first trip on Sept when I had to be repatriated after only two days, suffering from

schrapnels in my legs, at this exact location, the Kosevo cemetery.

Thousand of people were buried there, sometimes under shelling (as it was the case when

I got wounded myself, taking pictures of a burial).

Pictured in the very early fog, (kind of safety because of snipers), that was the body of an

unidentified fighter. There were a mixed of christian crosses and wooden sticks for

muslims. About 30.000 people died during the siege of Sarajevo, among them 10.000

children.

I must pay a tribute to the courage of all the people I met there, and thank them all for

their help. If I remember well, over 70 photo-reporters and journalists died in Bosnia

during the first year og the conflict. More than in Vietnam during the all war. My memories

are for them too.

Thank's again for this opportunity to express myself and my work.

After more than 10 years in photo-reportage, I turn myself now in Architecture

photography.

If you're interested in more, please visit the http://www.jb-avril.com

"All wars are civil wars." Perhaps that is the message, and it is very effectively delivered. Congratulations on getting the PoW.

A very powerful picture.

It's refreshing to see a photojournal shot as POW. They are difficult and this one is excellent. It brings what happened there right in your face and makes you think for a while

I particularly like the emphasized feeling of depth one gets from the various front-to-back changes in the photograph. The move from dark to light, the move from high to low contrast, the slight change in focus, and the different perspect of the foreground and background crosses all contribute to this. There's also a sense of the contrast of the two subjects: the body itself, whiter than anything else in the picture, and what is presumably the marker (cross) for that body, blacker than anything else. The subject is echoed again and again, in a subtle way, by all of the other mounds and markers.

 

I do wonder, though, if this might not have worked better in more squarish format, widening the surroundings lightly and bringing in more sky, perhaps even at the expense of the base of the nearest cross.

Hmm, words escape me. A truly amazing pj shot. Lately, on p.net, there has been so much talk about ratings. No numbers can convey anything about this image - it simply has to be seen and felt. Bravo to Jean-Baptiste for taking it, bravo to the Elves for making it POW.

This looks like the photo.net gallery (originality speaking).

BTW: Quite good photo.