North Bohemia is my lifelong theme. It is my birthplace and the place where, since 1991, I have been photographing the transformation of landscapes, communities and people as part of the project Fragments of North Bohemia. This beautiful area from Krušné hory to České středohoří mountains has always been remarked by the Communist plundering of rich deposits of brown coal. But even two decades after the Velvet Revolution, there is still a conflict between the miners and the inhabitants of the municipalities at the edges of the mines and it is unclear what fate the region is waiting for.
Most of the footage from the north, including black and white pictures of farmer Rajter which won the prize at Czech Press Photo 2003, I shot on my favorite Nikon F4 camera. But it was stolen and I did not accept this loss even in the era of digital photography. From the damaged parts and several destroyed shutters of a memorable Nikon I built a miniature memorial and wished the camera to come back. A week later, police called me that my camera was found in the apartment of a trafficker. That’s I promised myself that with this analogue Nikon I’ll get the whole North Bohemian story until the release of the book.
Photographs are authorized © Ibra Ibrahimovič.
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