Osijek Snapshots book is a result of the first artist-in-residence program in the MMML Studio in Osijek, Croatia. The short artist-in-resident program consisted of Bojović’s capturing of Osijek with his analog point and shoot camera, which included an intensive four-day tour of all parts and corners of Osijek. This resulted in three “used up” roll films consisting of about a hundred analog photographs, all of which represent a record of Osijek, captured from an uncommon perspective. Also, in addition to the analog photography part, Bojović made parallel digital recordings using his mobile phone. 

The content of the photographs does not conform to the stereotypical depiction of the city that we are usually presented with; it puts the emphasis on the city as a whole, which is not comprised solely of the “eye-pleasing” city center, but also contains the periphery, from which a vista of an unending plain can be seen or, on the other end of the spectrum, an area just outside the city centre which is dominated by a devastated factory with all its misfortunes and a decrepit façade, reminding us of the times behind us, but also of the one in which we are currently living.

By capturing a building riddled by artillery shrapnel, a run-down see-saw at a playground, the devastated and overgrown interior of a former factory, or simply a woman selling flowers at the Osijek Corso, Bojović presents us with an honest and precise outlook on Osijek. Through his lens he sees the city with both its flaws and virtues, raw and critical on the one hand, and almost romantic on the other. 

Mario Matoković