People of Belgrade

The hidden beauties of Belgrade are not only details invisible for cursory glances of hectic passers-by. The beauty is hiding in the heart of Belgrade, in a complicated architecture of their souls. Intertwined are small joys and minor problems, major achievements and weltschmerz… These are all states of mind caused by countless and unimaginable reasons, collected at Facebook page – People of Belgrade.

Ognjen Stambolović is a young man who listens, observes and feels Belgrade. And he asks questions. He says that while he was still a kid he tried to figure out the stories that make the people of Belgrade wrinkle their foreheads and put a smile on their faces. He wondered what was it that made them frown, what they dreamt about, where they rushed, what they carried… He discovered a Facebook page, “The People of New York”, and he realised that he could shape up his own curiosity in a similar way. He created a page dedicated to his fellow citizens, sudden passers-by attracting his attention. That’s how he gave a chance to everyday stories and portraits, that usually slip past in the hustle and bustle of everyday, to emerge, speak out, laugh and complain.
“No way you’re gonna take a photo of me. Who am I? An old man working in construction, not a chance I’d be interesting for you.”
“That’s the point, to show others that there are some ordinary interesting people living in this city.”

Ognjen opened the Facebook page “People of Belgrade” in October last year. He could not even dream that his collection of questions and answers and photos would by now reach more than 40,000 fans. There’s no make-up, posturing, posing. Everything is real and we’ve all been part of some of those scenes. And the questions are tickling, like in a slam book, after which we can easily go on with our small talk. “What was the first thought that went through your head this morning when you woke up? If you could change something in your past, what would it be? What are you most afraid of? Do you remember your first kiss? If you could hug anyone, who would that be?”

First, he wanted to give vent to his own curiosity. To present all faces of Belgrade, the firm and wrinkled ones, the faces with make-up, as well as tired, carefree and worried faces… At the beginning he had no idea about the big fortune he’d discover on the way. In addition to making new acquaintances, he gets richer with each conversation by another story, another experience. And the number of his collocutors is growing. Proportionally to the growth of popularity of the page, the interest of passers-by to participate in Ognjen’s project has increased. Passers-by of different ages and profiles: the youngest ones or mini Belgradians, as he calls them, students, teachers, vagrants, members of the chatty old school, and even pets… they are all happy to answer his questions.
There are always those who rush or who pretend to rush, those who are tired of opinion polls, or who are just shy. But even then this eighteen-year-old finds a way to encourage them to open their soul.
“Why do you want to take a photo of me?”
“For my Facebook page.”
“Don’t you know, young man, that Facebook is evil? We get alienated because of it; Facebook is the reason we don’t talk to each other any more. Everything about it is virtual and fake. Facebook can do you no good.”
“With this what I do, I want to show you some nice stuff that can be seen on Facebook. Facebook has its bad sides too, but certainly it has some advantages.”
“No way!”
(After twenty minutes of persuasion, the gentleman accepts to get photographed.)
“All right then; it’s for your positive cause!”