Belgrade: no guide, no glam, just the locals (16 images)
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Nicola PotterThrough their mishmashed views of this city the Serbian photography collective ‘Belgrade Raw’ show that the Serbian capital is a multi-facetted place. Inspired by them, French photographer Damien Sueur discovers a rich and varied city
This article is part of cafebabel.com’s 2010-2011 feature focus on the Balkans - read more about the project Orient Express Reporter
View from Kalemegdan fortress, the Danube and the river Sava. In the era when a garrison still occupied the fortress, the flat area served as a look-out post to watch for approaching enemies ahead of an attack (Image: ©Damien Sueur)
Republic Square (Trg republike), the meeting place for locals (Image: ©Damien Sueur)
Council houses… sheltered accommodation…Dorćol - Visokog Stevana street (Image: ©Damien Sueur)
A woman waits for a bus at Republic Square (Image: ©Damien Sueur)
Where once lay a battlefield, stands today the city’s biggest park, surrounding the entire fortress. In the centre is the Military Museum where this man is wandering, but also the Art Pavilion Cvijeta Zuzorić, the City Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments, a childrens’ play area, as well as sports facilities and restaurants (Image: ©Damien Sueur)
Fiat Zastava 750, nicknamed Fića by the locals, in reference to a cartoon character featured in the newspaper Borba during the first years of the car’s production. Manufactured from 1965, it’s the smallest vehicle ever designed by Yugoslavian car maker Zavodi Crvena Zastava. Today it’s a symbol of nostalgia from the Yugoslavian era that the young bohemians try to detach themselves from (Image: ©Damien Sueur)
Young crowd parties at a kafana (tavern) Zona Zamfirovac for the orthodox new year on 13 January 2011 (Image: ©Damien Sueur)
Selling beans at Baijoni market (Image: ©Damien Sueur)
Behind the fortress (Image: ©Damien Sueur)
Ssouvenir shop Boba at Kalemegdan Fortress (Image: ©Damien Sueur)
One of the five Serbian photographers from the Belgrade Raw collective. He’s 25 and has a degree in applied arts. Belgrade Raw 'focuses on real people and places' within the city: 'We don’t care about the touristy areas and overdone glamour,' they write on their site (Image: ©Damien Sueur)
Playing chess in the fortress park, a classic Balkan image (Image: ©Damien Sueur)
9.30 in the morning on the bank of the river Sava, I spent five minutes watching this woman face the tranquility of the Belgrade morning landscape (Image: ©Damien Sueur)
The old NAVIP factory in the old town of Zemun. Next to the Belgrade stock exchange since 2006, it produces wine and spirit products such as Loza or slivovitz, or plum brandy (Image: ©Damien Sueur)
Sunset on the Sava river (Image: ©Damien Sueur)
Night falls on the street that opens out onto the Danube (Kosančićev venac). For nightlife, the bank of the river Sava is the place to go, where dozens of nightclubs can be found on moored barges throughout the year (Image: ©Damien Sueur)
Translated from A Belgrade, sans guide, sans glam, avec les gens du cru (16 photos)