Ballerina Zulejha Kečo

I first „met“ with Zulejha on Instagram, I texted her and we met for a coffee where I told Zulejha about my concept, the main idea was to combine ballet, photography and Sarajevo. I wanted to show Sarajevo in a new way! Zulejha Keco is the first generation after the Yugoslavian War. A few days later we started with our first shooting on a rooftop close to the center of Sarajevo.
Zulejha and I got along wonderfully and we were immediately aware that the project opened a new and different perspective of Sarajevo. The next shooting was set in an old Viennese tramway - a perfect match bearing in mind my Viennese origins. During the ride, Zulejha danced whilst I photographed her, passengers were thrilled, we had our stage and a grateful audience! Through my pictures, I deliberately illustrate various dimensions of the city: the beautiful, the less beautiful or those elements that were once beautiful, as well as Ottoman, Austro-Hungarian and communist Yugoslavian elements. Sarajevo is indeed a very diverse city full of contrasts and rich in history.
My intention is to show the capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina in a different light to invite people to get to know or rediscover their city. First and foremost, art’s purpose is to be there with and for people, to inspire and, in some way, to enlighten them. Dance and photography merged in my project "Sarajevo Ballerina“ into a perfect symbiosis where - in a blink of an eye - the very moment of movement, tension and beauty is captured through my lense in a historic frame.