I’ve been collecting old family photos for the last 5 or 6 years.. They are usually found in old shoe boxes or faded photo albums, and I feel like I’m the only one that still looks at them… So, every once in a while, I take one. I know I’ll take good care of them.

I find them absolutely fascinating. It’s a piece of history I can take with me; the paper has endured water damage and extensive wear’n'tear, but that only gives it authenticity. It’s important to know where you’re going, but you can not forget where you are coming from.

Some of the photos, such as this first one, date back to the WWII. My great grandfather is pictured there, with a large group of men, somewhere in the woods. The second image is even older, dating back to before the war (picturing my great grandfather and great grandmother, when they got married).

The rest capture the turbulent 50s, 60s and 70s, in a village (and surrounding area) in northern Bosnia & Hercegovina. That handsome young lad with the spiked-up hair is my grandfather, Ilija.

P.S. Given my “technical” constraints here, I think the images turned out well. A lightbox, however, would have made a world of difference. Maybe next time.