Hard and same time free-spirited life of people in the Balkan Mountains of North Macedonia and Albania.The mountain villages are depopulating due to a lack of work. Young people are leaving for the cities, the old are gradually dying out, and with them their houses. Wildlife then transforms the remains of humanity into a place where time stood still.
The church, Sloestica, Macedonia (12.9. 2013) The harder life people live in, the stronger their faith in God and humility to the nature are.
Flock of sheep, Sloestica, Macedonia (12.9. 2013) Sheep graze in uncared plantations and gardens.
Tobacco collection, Sloestica, Macedonia (7.9. 2013) Tobacco is still harvested by hand.
A field with tobacco, Sloestica, Macedonia (25.8. 2018) The tobacco is a typical crop, which grows on mountain’s fields and provides livehood to local inhabitants.
Wild horse, Sloestica, Macedonia (15.9. 2013) Horses run through a deserted and overgrown village.
Abandoned village Babino, Macedonia (30.8. 2021) The place where time stood still.
Shepherd, Sloestica, Macedonia (11.9. 2013) A shepherd living high in the mountains drives Inside the small chapel his flock of sheep into a valley where there is greenery.
The crumbling house, Virovo, Macedonia (1.9. 2021) Wild bushes and trees are growing through an abounded and slowly crumbling house. Nature is gradually taking back what once belonged to it in the past time.
Inside the small chapel, Mrenoga, Macedonia (1.9. 2021) Faith is an important part of people living high in the mountains.
One class for primary school children, Sloestica, Macedonia (6.9. 2013) There is a small class in the village, attended by only 5 pupils.
In the small house of Stanče and his mother, Bazernik, Macedonia (28.8. 2021) Stanče and his mother live in a small house where they and their ancestors were born. Everything we want to know about them is hung on the wall of their room. Strong relationship to faith, creative freedom, and their existence dependent on collecting of herbs and berries.
Zašle, North Makedonia (13.8. 2022) Horses live here wildly and in harmony with nature.
Dobrica, Zašle, Macedonia (13.8. 2022) Medicinal herbs are an important part of the life of people high in the mountains.
Goats, Malo Illino, Macedonia (29.8. 2021) Goat cheese is the most typical food here.
Farmer with his horses, Malo Ilino, Macedonia (29.8. 2021) A farmer living with his family high in the mountains leads his horses to the pasture every day.
Florin with his grandson’s photography, Virovo, Macedonia (1.9. 2021) Florin shows photography of his grandson, who lives in a city, where the young generation is leaving to. Thus, mountain villages are slowly depopulated.
Obituary, Babino, Macedonia (30.8. 2021) A ten-year-old obituary on an abandoned house, that no one stepped into since. How people are dying out, their houses are dying gradually with them too.
Selcë, Albania (22.8. 2022) In the Albanian mountains, the donkey is still an important means of transport.
Stray puppy, Virovo, Macedonia (1.9. 2021) Just as people in the mountains have rough life, so do their animals who long for a caress.
Pogradec, Albania (22.8. 2022) At the foot of the mountains are the remnants of ruined and abandoned factories, which complete the raw mood of the mountains.
