What is it all about?
Grey Skies Black Birds is a trilingual monograph (Fr/De/En), which will be published this Fall by GOST Books, London. You will discover about a hundred pictures from our many trips to Bosnia and Herzegovina and texts from Saša Stanišić, Srecko Latal and Christian Caujolle.
With your support, you’re giving our book, the last push over the finishing line. Thank you!
The project
December 14th 2015 will mark the 20th anniversary of the Dayton Agreement. It signed an end to the war which tore Bosnia apart between 1992 and 1995. A generation. We wanted not only to show the landscapes and cities whose names are still in our collective memory, but also show the faces of the country itself. Who are the young Bosnians? To what extent an ambiguous past has an impact on the present? How to live in an environment filled with contradictions?
This project is an emotional response to what we have felt in this country. Still today Bosnia endures a political, ethnic and religious division. The pictures were taken between the Spring of 2013 and the Spring of 2015.
Elma, 23, Tešanj. 
Bare silhouettes, Srebrenica. 
Dark clouds overhead, a flock of birds flies by. Sarajevo. 
In the silent immensity of the plains, Livno. 
Anida, 18, Travnik. 
Nedim, 28, Srebrenica. 
Portrait of General Ratko Mladić painted on a building, Gacko. 
A basket of fruits, reminds us of the still life Gustave Courbet painted while he was imprisoned, Mostar. 
Jasmina, 32, Tuzla.
Who participates?
We have the privilege to work with Stuart Smith from London, one of the leading book designers of the moment. Among his notable clients are some of the world’s best-known photographers such as James Nachtwey, Martin Parr and Rafal Milach.
For the texts, we collaborated with three internationally recognized personalities in the fields such as literature, politics and photography:
- Saša Stanišić is a journalist, essayist and author of Bosnian origin, living in Hamburg. He is the author of two novels. His first one, «How the Soldier Repairs the Gramophone» has been translated into more than 30 languages.
- Srecko Latal is a political analyst from Sarajevo and former correspondent of the Associated Press (AP). He has covered the conflicts in Bosnia, Kosovo and Afghanistan. His articles have been published in The New York Times, The Guardian and Al Jazeera.
- Christian Caujolle is an emblematic figure in the world of photography. He is a critic, artistic director and curator of many photography festivals. He is also one of the founders of Agence VU’ in Paris.
The book
Here is what we have planed (few changes might occur):
- Edited by GOST books, London
- Design and editing by Stuart Smith, London
- Book format 20x25 cm
- Approximately 120 pages printed on high quality 150gsm paper including about 10 foldouts pages.
- Cloth covered hardback with screen print and embossing
- Print run of 1.000 copies of which 100 books are limited edition
- The limited edition will differ by the colour of its cover. Each book is signed and numbered and comes with a signed and numbered 24x18 cm print on 300gsm Fine Art paper. The edition number will match the print number.
- Expected release date on 1st November 2015
Why should you support this project?
We have self-funded all our trips to Bosnia and Herzegovina. The book production costs are partly covered by private funding, supporting organizations and Swiss foundations. However, we are still missing 6.000 CHF, before this book can happen. Support us in this adventure and take part in the realization of this major project! With your help, we might do it!
A huge thank you to all of you!
