The pictures capture a country longing for change: people of all ages idling at sidewalk cafes instead of being at work, buildings that display mortar-shelling scars from a war two decades ago and rainbow flags flying near the U.S. embassy, signaling a respect for human rights that isn't fully embraced throughout the country.
The images are all part of a youth-based documentary project and nongovernmental organization (NGO) in Bosnia and Herzegovina called Project 1948, which references the year the United Nations announced the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Headed by Jenifer White, PhD — who came up with the idea as an international psychology student at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology and is now a clinical psychologist in Tulsa, Oklahoma — the aim is to help young people in the nation record the reality of their lives through photos and discussions.
In February, Project 1948 received formal accreditation from the U.N.'s Economic and Social Council, and in May received special consultative status — a designation conferred to only 4,500 of the 3.7 million NGOs. The status means that Project 1948 can, among other things, organize U.N. events, submit reports, make recommendations and attend closed meetings. "The status gives member NGOs a central forum for discussing international economic and social issues and making policy recommendations," she says.
The project's goal is to affect positive change. "We help the young people focus on things they want to share that represent their culture," explains White, who uses techniques from a research method called PhotoVoice to structure the work.
Project 1948 represents an important supplement to the more formal work of the Bosnian and Herzegovinian government and the U.N., says Aris Seferović, head of the U.N.'s resident coordinator office in the country. "Because the students in Project 1948 give us an unofficial perspective on certain issues, they can provide us with information on challenges the country faces that we would not otherwise have access to," he says. "The visual aspect of some stories can be very effective, and the young people are doing it in a creative way that makes you pay attention."
Since 2014, about 45 young people ages 17 to 23 have taken part in Project 1948. For each photo assignment, they receive cameras, then head off for three weeks to take photos that illustrate their lives and their country's challenges. Once the photos are printed out, the students are interviewed on film by volunteers from Photographers Without Borders to discuss the stories behind the photos. Next, volunteers from Data Scientists Without Borders code and analyze the material for policy-related themes, which White is organizing into formal statements that she'll eventually share in relevant policy forums.
Students have been sharing their photos and stories on Facebook, on other websites and in magazines. In 2016, they held their first exhibit, at a Sarajevo café and art gallery.
Participant Belma Mahmic, 22, a graduate student in psychology at the University of Sarajevo, says the experience has enabled her to photograph many things she'd like to change in her society, including continued enmity among different ethnic groups and a spirit of apathy. One photo captures a sign tacked up on an old synagogue in Sarajevo, translated roughly as, "As long as there is no shooting." The phrase — commonly used in the country — means that people will go along with whatever happens, as long as it's not war, Mahmic explains.
"I truly believe that someday this sign will be nothing more than a written reminder of the absurdity of war," she says.
While the NGO's aim of getting the word to national lawmakers in Bosnia and Herzegovina has not yet materialized, the project has already had a significant influence on the participants. Mahmic, for example, is writing her master's thesis on how the NGO has affected volunteers. She also credits Project 1948 with changing the way she sees things, and that gives her hope for her country.
"In the process of taking photos and talking about them, we change for the better and we influence people around us in a good way," Mahmic says. "Encouraging and empowering the society is what actually makes a significant change."
To see more photos from Project 1948, go to www.project1948.ngo/2016-photovoice-gallery/opens in new window.
