In the Balkans

the long version

The Balkan Peninsula is a relatively small geographic area that today encompasses ten countries. For centuries this mountainous region has been the site of relentless ethnic, religious, and territorial warfare. No Balkan generation has escaped unscathed. But to this fragmented environment, photographer Nikos Economopoulos brings his extraordinary vision of a Balkan people. In spite of the hatreds that have endured for centuries, the people of the Balkans share a way of life and a history. They carry on with the business of living - with marriages and funerals, farming and street games - despite the unmistakable air of volatility that surrounds them. Looking through the pages that follow, one forgets to ask: Who are the oppressed and who are the oppressors? Who is right and who is wrong? The answers lie buried deep in layers of Balkan history.