JULY 4th
PART ONE — Written on the bus while waiting to leave Prishtina
I’ve learned to be very flexible yet very prepared when scheduling anything in Kosovo. Meetings get postponed, or you’ll unexpectedly make a contact and have to meet right then. Buses are never on time, but always in a rush when they arrive.
This morning, I planned on getting to the bus station in Prishtina by 7:45 to catch the 8:00 bus to Mitrovica. Nope. I arrived at 7:58. The 8:00 bus didn’t come, though. The next bus was scheduled for 8:15. Nope. I didn’t get on a bus to Mitrovica until 8:45.
When we went to Mitrovica three days earlier, the bus left immediately after we got on. On this trip, the bus sat outside the station until about 9:10, which was when I had planned on meeting up with Abide, our newborns subject, to start our day.
Luckily, Abide is both busy and understanding so we picked a new meeting time and place, and it all worked out.
PART TWO — Logistics
Photographing ‘A Day in the Life’ means photographing from the time a subject wakes up until the time they go to bed. Photographing ‘A Day in the Life’ in a village outside Mitrovica means photographing from the time you can get transportation out to the village until the time you can get back into the city. Getting out to Abide’s village is pretty difficult, so we met up with her at the IBCM campus at the start of the day and then took the village’s bus with her to get back to her house. That small bus makes a trip back to the bus station in Mitrovica around 6, so we were able to get back alone.
PART THREE — Welcome
Abide’s friends and family were so welcoming. After meeting up with Abide at her school, we went to coffee with her friends. They were such great people and they were very open to me photographing and asking them questions. Later in the day, when we were back at Abide’s house, her mother kept giving us food and asking us questions. In addition to shooting all day, I learned a lot just from talking to different people and seeing the area where Abide lives. I love that this work gives us so many opportunities to connect with new people and hear so many stories. Telling those stories is even more of a privilege.
PART FOUR — Reflections and Planning
The second day with Abide was spent photographing her daily life. It was very productive and I enjoyed my time there. I was able to get some good photographs but after looking through everything and working on the audio, Tereza and I have decided to go back and shoot more. We are going early this week to redo the interview and get some more information about the divide between North and South Mitrovica as well as the effect of the war on Abide’s family. As much planning and effort as it takes to get out to Mitrovica, I’m really excited to develop this story further and hopefully create something we can be really proud of.