This blog post will focus on vintage travel photography in one of Croatia's least documented and most undiscovered regions; Slavonija.
At Martin Creates, we enjoy exploring a wide variety of photography styles and formats. In this case, traveling to Slavonski Brod and Osijek in Croatia during the summer months meant that there were going to be plenty of warm sunny days to enjoy outdoors. I was really looking forward to capturing the mood and energy of the city using a combination of both colour and black and white film rolls on my Canon A1 SLR and 50mm f1.4 lens.
Given its location, Slavonija is well-known for its agriculture and organic produce. These play a key role in the local gastronomy which includes dishes such as fish stews, risotto, fruit cakes, savoury pastries, roasts, cured meats and more. Since a lot of younger people are leaving both the region and country, the older generation is trying hard to keep the traditions alive. This includes beekeeping for homemade honey, curing meat and pickling vegetables ahead of the cold winter days. I couldn't think of a better location to express this story visually than the town's food market on a Saturday morning.
Kodak 200 and 400 were great choice for this scene as they really brought out the natural colours in a documentary-style fashion.
Another interesting story that I was looking forward to capturing was the city summer parade to celebrate the graduation of all high schoolers. It usually lasts over the course of a weekend and yet it didn't feel that way.
In fact, I learned that it hasn't "felt" that way for quite some time.
The reason for that is because it was quite an "empty" parade. A lot of young adults - especially couples - have left the city (and country) to find better economic opportunities abroad or in the capital, Zagreb. This has actually led to lower birth rates and consequently, school class sizes being reduced from an average of 20-30 students per class to approx. 15-20, and the number of form groups per year falling from 5-7 per year group to merely 3 at most. Such huge drops in youngsters has created demographic challenges for Croatia.
Despite the "emptiness" and lack of graduates parading around the city, I still felt obliged to document the parade in a way that did it justice to the few who put on a brilliant display.
I chose an iconic black and white film roll - Ilford Delta HP5 (ISO 400) - because I wanted the grain to add a timeless vintage effect that creates a feeling of nostalgia when looking back at these photos.
When documenting travel experiences, it's important to decide on the story you want to tell. Anyone that's travelled domestically or abroad is aware that there will often be a mixture of positive and negative experiences.
No story is perfect just like nothing in life is perfect.
You'll also notice I enjoy documenting my stories in a horizontal format because it's more cinematic and movie-like. I'll occasionally take a few vertical stills for the benefit of social media as that's seen on mobile phones and therefore takes up most of the screen.
Our Slavonic story wouldn't be complete without showing a few other iconic spots and natural aspects of Slavonski Brod.
The images below show the Marsonia Football Club Stadium, The Hrvatski Dom building which was previously the city's only cinema, the Soviet style architecture and children playing street football after the city's food market closed for the day.
I enjoy doing documentary-style photography in a way that's impartial. I want my audience to see it the way I saw it. Using 35mm film helps me achieve that because there are unavoidable imperfections that make the story real. Of course, you can still achieve this with a mirrorless camera system, "but it won't be the same", as nearly every professional photographer will tell you.
All images here were taking on a Canon A1 & 50mm f1.4 lens.
I look forward to documenting more stories from my travels and sharing them with you.
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