Roma boy from an encampment in Belgrade, Serbia 2009
I have been home for over a week. My trip back to the Balkans seemed quick. I was there for a month-and-a-half but it felt like two weeks. I was able to improve some great friendships and build some new ones, especially in Austria, where I connected with some musicians and graphic artists.
I used up 14 rolls of b/w film and am now in the developing process in a darkroom across the river. I am there this morning and most of the day. We shall see. I have been slowly looking through the digital stuff. Although I have combed through the Roma images, I still have the Breast Cancer shoot to address as well as my “tourist” images, mostly train stations, bus stations and transport of different varieties.
I am also writing my thesis on possible unification in the Balkan Peninsula. Laugh if you will, but I think there could be a solution. I also hope to be able to do a shoot next week with a professional model for some figure studies before I head to Woodstock for the weekend workshop on the same subject. I have the images in my head that I want, I just need to make them happen. I think I am using a male model, so I am going for a sense of heroism, almost like propaganda images from the Cold War, but I will also look for the vulnerability of the human spirit as well.
Here ‘s a small b/w image of a Roma boy from Belgrade.
John D.C. Masters
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