In the past 9 years since 2012, I have been traveling around Europe, photographing monuments at night.
Monuments bear people’s memories of the local environment, they are the ‘record’ of changes of history and culture, and have become the symbol of a kind of cultural remnant. They express remembrance towards the deceased in the past, the cruciality of yesterday’s wars, the adoration of religions and beliefs, the evolution of the local landscape… In the mind of people of today, they have seized a little moment for themselves, fighting against the mortality of life.
However, some monuments inevitably faded as time went by, being neglected or even destroyed. As such glorious and solitary beings, their beauty of paradox is fascinating, let alone the aesthetic value of their design. Their daring and avant-garde appearance used to be filled with utopian and futuristic imaginations, this beauty is dazzling and everlasting.
I visit them in the dark and paint them with light. I want to present their beauty with a new approach. By using light painting photography, I am trying to create a door: a door that connects the past and future, prosperity and decay, glory and pain, the monuments in front of my eyes and myself. Creating surreality in reality is a fascinating process. While being convicted of insignificance in front of eternity, this is the evidence of our short-lived co-existence that I could provide.
I would like to dedicate this series of photos to those who designed the monuments, and those who were once remembered by the monuments.
📍Countries：
Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Romania, Armenia, Latvia, Lithuania, Albania, Ukraine, Germany, Denmark, Spain.
Kozara (Козара)
Name: Monument to the Revolution (Spomenik Revoluciji/Споменик Револуцији)
Location: Mrakovica area of Kozara National Park, Republic of Srpska, Bosnia & Herzegovina
Year built: 1972
Designer: Dušan Džamonja
Podgarić
Name: Monument to the Revolution of the People of Moslavina (Spomenik Revolucije Naroda Moslavine)
Location: Podgarić, Croatia
Year completed: 1967
Designers: Dušan Džamonja, Vladimir Veličković
Kruševo (Крушево)
Name: Ilinden Memorial (Споменик „Илинден“) or 'Makedonium' (Македониум)
Location: Gumenja Hill in Kruševo, Macedonia
Year completed: 1974
Designers: Jordan Grabul, Iskra Grabul
Tjentište (Тјентиште)
Name: The Battle of Sutjeska Memorial Monument Complex in the Valley of Heroes
Location: Tjentište, Republic of Srpska, Bosnia & Hercegovina
Year built: 1971
Designers: Miodrag Živković, Ranko Radović
Kruševo (Крушево)
Name: Ilinden Memorial (Споменик „Илинден“) or 'Makedonium' (Македониум)
Location: Gumenja Hill in Kruševo, Macedonia
Year completed: 1974
Designers: Jordan Grabul, Iskra Grabul
Buzludzha (Бузлуджа)
Name: Buzludzha
Location: Stara Zagora Province, Bulgaria
Year built: 1971 - 1981
Designer: Georgi Vladimirov Stoilov
Buzludzha (Бузлуджа)
Name: Buzludzha
Location: Stara Zagora Province, Bulgaria
Year built: 1971 - 1981
Designer: Georgi Vladimirov Stoilov
Podgarić
Name: Monument to the Revolution of the People of Moslavina (Spomenik Revolucije Naroda Moslavine)
Location: Podgarić, Croatia
Year completed: 1967
Designers: Dušan Džamonja, Vladimir Veličković
9th Fort
Name: Monument to the Victims of Fascism ('9th fort and monument')
Location: Kaunas, Lithuania
Year completed: 1984
Designer: Alfonsas Vincentas Ambraziūnas
Popina (Попина)
Name: Popina Monument Park ('Mausoleum to the Fallen Insurgents'; 'The Sniper')
Location: Štulac, Serbia
Year completed: 1981
Designer: Bogdan Bogdanović
Kosmaj (Космај)
Name: Monument to the Fallen Soldiers of the Kosmaj Detachment (Споменик борцима Космајског одреда)
Location: Kosmaj Mountain Park, Serbia
Year completed: 1971
Designers: Vojin Stojić, Gradimir Medaković
Aparan
Name: Monument to the Battle of Bash-Aparan
Location: Aparan, Armenia
Year completed: 1979
Designer: Rafael Israelyan
Makljen
Name: Monument to the Battle of the Wounded
Location: Mt. Makljen, FBiH, Bosnia & Herzegovina
Year completed: 1978
Designer: Boško Kućanski
Gyumri
Name: Gyumri Iron Fountain
Location: Gyumri, Armenia
Year completed: 1982
Designer: Artur Tarkhanyan
Heart to Jesus
Name: Heart to Jesus
Location: Gordon Hill in Harghita County, Transylvania, Romania
Year completed: 2011
Designer: Walter Zawaczky
Ostra (остра)
Name: Monument to Courage (Spomenik hrabrima/Споменик мужевима)
Location: Ostra, Serbia
Year completed: 1969
Designers: Miodrag Živković, Svetislav Ličina
Landmarke Lausitzer Seenland
Name: Landmarke Lausitzer Seenland
Location: Senftenberg, Germany
Year built: 2008
Designer: Architektur & Landschaft Stefan Giers
Kadinjača (Кадињача)
Name: Kadinjača Memorial Complex (Спомен комплекс Кадињача)
Location: Užice, Serbia
Year completed: 1952, with expansion in 1979 (2 years to build)
Designers: Miodrag Živković, Aleksandar Đokić
Petrova Gora
Name: Monument to the Uprising of the People of Kordun and Banija
Location: Petrova Gora National Park,Vojnić, Croatia
Year completed: 1981
Designer: Vojin Bakić
Grmeč
Name: Monument to Korčanica
Location: Korčanica Memorial Zone of Grmeč Mountain, FBiH, Bosnia & Herzegovina
Year completed: 1979
Designer: Ljubomir Denković
Barutana (Барутана)
Name: Memorial to the Fallen of the Lješanska Nahija Region
Location: Barutana, Montenegro
Year completed: 1980
Designer: Svetlana Kana Radević
Sisak
Name: Monument to the Detachment in Brezovica Forest
Location: Novo Selo Palanječko, Croatia
Year completed: 1981
Designer: Želimir Janeš
Jasenovac
Name: Flower Monument (Stone Flower)
Location: Jasenovac, Croatia
Year built: 1966
Designer: Bogdan Bogdanović
Gyumri
Name: Gyumri Iron Fountain
Location: Gyumri, Armenia
Year completed: 1982
Designer: Artur Tarkhanyan
Heart to Jesus
Name: Heart to Jesus
Location: Gordon Hill in Harghita County, Transylvania, Romania
Year completed: 2011
Designer: Walter Zawaczky
Nikšić (Никшић)
Name: Monument to Fallen Fighters of WWII (Spomenik Palim Borcima U Drugom Svjetskom Ratu)
Location: Nikšić, Montenegro
Year completed: 1987
Designer: Ljubo Vojvodić
Semn Dacic
Name: Monument Dacic falx, Semn Dacic
Location: Orastie, Romania
Year built: 2007
Designer: Nicolae Adam
Gligino Brdo (Глигино Брдо)
Name: Freedom Hill Monument
Location: Gligino Hill, Bosnia & Herzegovina
Year built: Late 1970s
Designer: Ahmed Bešić
Gevgelija (Гевгелија)
Name: Monument to Freedom or 'The Flower of Freedom" (Цветот на слободата)
Location: Mrzenski Hill in Gevgelija, Macedonia
Year completed: 1969
Designers: Jordan Grabul, Blagoj Kolev
Salaspils
Name: Salaspils memoriāls, Latvia
Location: Riga, Latvia
Year completed: 1967
Designer: Ļevs Bukovskis
Straja
Name: Monumentul Tineretului
Location: Straja, Constanța County, Romania
Year completed: 1987
Designer: Pavel Bucur
Oteševo (Отешево)
Name: Monument to the Prespa Party Conference (Споменик за Преспанското советување)
Location: Oteševo, Macedonia
Year completed: 1973
Designers: Jordan Grabul, Boro Josifovski
Sanski Most
Name: Šušnjar Memorial Complex (Спомен-подручје Шушњар/Spomen Groblje Šušnjar)
Location: Sanski Most, FBiH, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Year completed: 1970
Designer: Petar Krstić
Čačak (Чачак)
Name: Mausoleum of Struggle and Victory
Location: Čačak, Serbia
Year completed: 1980
Designer: Bogdan Bogdanović
Third Angel
Name: Monument of the Third Angel
Location: Chernobyl, Ukraine
Year completed: 2011
Designer: Anatoly Haidamaka
Kyiv Crematorium
Name: Kyiv Crematorium
Location: Kyiv, Ukraine
Year completed: 1982
Designer: A. Miletski
Treptower Park
Name: Soviet War Memorial (Treptower Park)
Location: Berlin, Germany
Year completed: 1949
Designer: Yakov Belopolsky
Star Monument
Name: Qukës-Pishkash Star Monument
Location: Librazhd – Përrenjas, Albania
Year completed: 1978
Designer: Perikli Çuli
Aparan
Name: Monument to the Battle of Bash-Aparan
Location: Aparan, Armenia
Year completed: 1979
Designer: Rafael Israelyan
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I'm fascinated by the man-made environment. There are some topics I’m especially into, like abandoned sites, brutalist architecture, mass concrete monuments, towers, bunkers, underground tunnels, and many other urban structures. Those places are empty and eerily quiet at night in darkness. But the existence of them actually speaks for themselves, waiting for us to discover and listen to their stories - no matter sad, absurd, heartbroken, or beautiful, they are all shining in the dark, waiting for us to reap.
As a traveler, I never witnessed those places during their flourishing time in the past, and in the future, I also have no control over how they will become, whether they get abandoned, renovated, or even completely demolished. So the only thing I can do is appreciate the very moment I visit them and witness the current status in their life circle.
Simply documenting those places is not the only thing I want to achieve. By controlling the light and time via light painting photography, I want to recreate them and build a connection between us. They are transformed on my photos and generate unique scenes that only belong to me.
Eternity is the thing people always pursue but never get in real life. Many times when I’m at those places shooting at night, I do feel I have built a connection between them and me. While feeling how insignificant and lonely we humans are when facing eternity, by doing all this, all I can do is prove that we used to have each other.
If I have to put into words what I wanted to tell through my photos, ‘The Romance of Eternity’ is my answer.
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View more about this project HERE
People to Thank:
People I'd like to thank for helping me out during my trips and shoots for this project:
Information of Spomenik in ex-Yugoslavia: Spomenik Database
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