Remains of the Past [Part 1/5]: The Drive East

There is a lot to be seen in the past and while it isn't recommendable to dwell in it, one can learn a lot from it for the future. Then there are those things one shouldn't forget. In that regard it's also important  for me to document the present, for it will also become part, of what once was.

This new series is filled with images that I love. It's a bit egotistical for me to admit this, but I'm going to say it anyway: I'm really proud of the work we did in making this series.

It's not the usual landscapes, it's a more personal story, and If you continue to read the other parts you will find out why. This series takes us into the east part of my country. We will discover remains of the past, both personal and natural.

I invite you to come along...

This is a multi-part series. Other parts include:

Part One: The Drive East

Part Two: Inside the Village

Part Three: Plains and Mountains of Herzegovina

Part Four: The Abandoned School
Part Five: Goodbye to the Past

click on the images for a bigger view

The drive began at 12:00. The sun was high up in the sky, partially covered by the clouds, which were rolling into the landscapes. Somewhere in the distance or destination was awaiting, but I couldn't just skip by what we saw along the way.

We stopped the car and I took some landscape shots. I love the light in the next image, the way it peaks out of the clouds, and illuminates parts of the mountains nearby.

The first destination on our trip was a village called "Krusevljani" (more on it later). My friend Selma was driving us, and it was actually she who suggested to make the drive. Parts of her family have roots in this region.

The weather was changing constantly. On this day we would experience heavy and dark clouds, sunshine, rain showers and winds, all in the course of a couple of hours.

I wanted to discard this next image initially, since I took it out of the car, and didn't think much of it. Only later on in editing, did I discover the effect that was created. The camera focused on the tree, and blurred the background, which created a nice depth of field and made the beautiful tree, with all of its blossoms, pop out.

I showed this image, previously in the "sneak peek" post, but I want to explain it a bit here. When you drive down the main road (which isn't that "main" to begin with), you will come across a path that breaks off, and that takes you into the village.

You can see the narrow road that leads into the village in this next image. The village is hidden away in the mountains.

We came upon some travelers, and stopped, of course, to let them pass on their way to the fields. :)

The first signs of the village started to show after a couple of minutes driving. Mostly known for agriculture, in these regions, the people that remain, struggle to make ends meet and thus mostly rely on sales in local fruit and vegetable markets.

When you enter the village, you are not completely sure if it is abandoned or if people live there. Some houses are built and show signs of life. Others seem abandoned, but they are not.

Then you have houses that were destroyed in the war here in the early 90s. You can see such a house, peaking out of the greens, that have mostly taken over the surroundings.

On the other hand, there are relics here from World War II. Sights like the next image, are very common. It became quickly clear that these parts of the country offer up much to discover, and our mission was to see and photograph as much as we could.

End of Part One

To be continued...

Thanks for stopping by. I hope that the first part was enough of an intrigue for you, to stop by for the second part. I'm still editing the last part of the series, so I'm not sure if it will be 5 or 6 parts in the end, since I took over 250 images. 

There is so much more to come. I'm really excited to show you everything that we saw. We will move away from the village and see other places too (like an abandoned school in part four). So you can look forward to all of it.