ALL EDITIONS OF VOJVODINA – A VIEW FROM A DIFFERENT ANGLE
Vojvodina is one of the destinations that has recorded an increased number of domestic tourists during the pandemic. It is as if people instinctively felt the need to retire to quieter, smaller places where they would find a different kind of vacation in contact with tradition and nature. We talked to photographer Nenad Mihajlovic about the secret of the Vojvodina plain, why and in what way Mika Antic loved this region, which hidden place will completely relax you and which natural phenomenon you should not miss.
About Nenad Mihajlović
He was born in Novi Sad in 1985. After graduating from the vocational secondary school of electrical engineering, he enrolled at the post-secondary technical school, majoring in applied photography, which he completed and acquired the title of graphic design engineer – applied photography. During the mandatory internship at the daily “Dnevnik”, he fell in love with the job of a photo reporter, and he started working full time in this position in 2012, at the daily “Blic” and other editions of Ringier Axel Springer. He currently collaborates with several domestic daily newspapers, internet portals and photo agencies. During his career, he has had several solo exhibitions, the most important of which was the first solo exhibition in Pula at the Serbian Cultural Center in 2017. This was followed by solo exhibitions in Vodnjan (Istria), as well as in Porec. He also participated in numerous group exhibitions in Novi Sad, Sombor, Subotica… At the International Reporting Festival “Interfer” in 2019, he won second place in the category of photo-reporting. He likes to take reportage photography, as well as the nature of Vojvodina as his subject.
Your photographic eye often observes the earth from wide, panoramic angles, a bird’s eye view, from where the soil of Vojvodina looks like a living organism. What do you feel looking at the magical expanses of Vojvodina?
Wherever you look at Vojvodina, be it from the air, from the bottom of the Pannonian Sea or from the tops of the few Vojvodina hills and mountains, the emotions that appear at that moment are really difficult to describe because those areas are different every time. I do not mean only the seasons, which show Vojvodina in different “editions”, but also the changes that take place in just a few hours or days, which make Vojvodina magical and unrepeatable.
Some believe that Vojvodina is monotonous because of its plain, but Vojvodina should be experienced with special senses, just as Mika Antić wrote in the song “Vojvodina”: “I love it from the barn to the sky, from the mud to the wheat, warm from the gypsy bows and religious holiday hymns.”
The pandemic has slowed down the life of modern man, people avoid crowds, closeness, physical contact. Do you have a hidden destination in Vojvodina that you would recommend to tourists to visit and rest their minds and bodies?
With the development of modern technologies and the growing expansion of social networks in the world, as well as in our country, there is almost no hidden place where one can isolate oneself and enjoy nature, especially in Vojvodina, which is not superficial, but as someone who knows Vojvodina, I often find some hidden corner. One of such places that is relatively hidden and less accessible and which I would recommend to tourists is certainly the lookout and the view of Ledinci Lake on Fruška gora. The lookout point overlooking the lake is reached by steep and narrow hiking trails, the path may be more physically demanding, but the view from the lookout is fantastic, relaxing both mind and body.
Could you describe to us the most magical moment you have witnessed in Vojvodina, those few exciting moments before the photo was taken.
In addition to many beautiful moments that I have experienced while photographing Vojvodina, the strongest moment for me is the “flowering of the Tisza”, where life and death meet in just a few minutes. From the insect larva, which lay in the mud of the Tisza for three years and waited for its moment to change its coat and become a beautiful “flower” until its return to the bottom of the Tisza, so that a new flower could sprout in three years. It is a rare phenomenon in the world that needs to be experienced.
What are you currently working on and what are your plans for the future? Are you planning tourism related projects?
I plan to realize several projects, some of which are related to tourism, but some have the goal of showing the life of an ordinary person (peasant, farmer) in Vojvodina.
