Collection by Freunde von Freunden
Geometric Socialist Remnants Still Leave a Mark in the Balkans
Benedetta Ristori’s analogue approach to photographing pre-fabricated socialist structures offers a haunting and blunt look at life more than two decades after the fall of the Iron Curtain.
Benedetta Ristori photographs former socialist Balkan countries uncovering unique structural vestiges.
Photo by Benedetta Ristori
Photo by Benedetta Ristori
Through her candid snapshots of locals set in these scenes, Benedetta’s work shows that Eastern European countries have the same essential cultural ingredients of their Western counterparts—even if at times they are brought together in ways less recognizable ways to those from the West.
Photo by Benedetta Ristori
On a journey through Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, Benedetta seems to find vibrant expressions of self and culture that contrast the crumbling facades or rotting textures of socialist markers.
Photo by Benedetta Ristori
Perhaps speaking to a form of passive resistance to ever-present scars from former oppressive regimes, for better or worse, the structures are still a symbol of strength—though one that is being challenged.
Photo by Benedetta Ristori
Photo by Benedetta Ristori
Photo by Benedetta Ristori
Photo by Benedetta Ristori
Photo by Benedetta Ristori
Photo by Benedetta Ristori