who wins?
Every photo tells a story, but some tell a contest. This collection of "one shot" pictures from Sarajevo captures a game I like to play with the city itself: one frame, one moment, no second takes, and a question hanging in the air: who is the winner here?
THE OLYMPIC MASCOT
836 works were submitted to the Yugoslav contest for the mascot of the Olympics. The expert jury headed by Prof. Mersad Berber and Prof. Ismet Dizdarević (among others), singled out six proposals, among which, in addition to Vučko, there were hedgehog, snowballs, weasel, chamois and lamb. The selected proposals were then published in all major Yugoslav newspapers so that citizens could vote for the proposal they liked the most. Vučko, the work of Jože Trobec from Kranj, was chosen by the majority of votes as the official mascot of the 14th Winter Olympic Games.
JUNE 2026
Bosnia and Herzegovina's long-awaited return to the FIFA World Cup after twelve years and Sarajevo is one single heartbeat.
Faith and football, identity and belonging, side by side without contradiction. For ninety minutes there were no divides in this city, everyone decorated, everyone united, cheering for the same eleven men in a stadium far away.
I WISH I WAS A CAT
Sarajevo's true government: unelected, uncounted, and impossible to remove. The city neutered up to 80% of its street dogs - the cats never even got a census. Ask any tourist forum: people literally check whether they can handle the cats before booking a flight to Bosnia. And still, every day, the cat decides nothing, answers to no one and rules everything.
CHESS
In a Sarajevo park, the battles never stopped, sixty-four squares wide. Chess is no hobby here: in 1994, in the middle of the siege, a Sarajevo team won the European Club Championship, and the city's club has produced grandmasters like Predrag Nikolić and Ivan Sokolov.
Without clock and no title, the oldest question in chess hangs in the air: who is the winner here? We dont know yet.
SARAJEVO ROSES
Sarajevo Roses are not flowers. They are scars turned into memory.
It asks a universal question: How do communities live alongside visible reminders of loss and what can these fragile marks teach us about resilience, memory and peace?
MOMENTS TO CATCH
Some moments give us pleasure. Some give us stories. A rare few change who we become.
Many of us spend years chasing happiness, only to discover that what stays with us are moments of wonder, connection and meaning.
STRONGEST COLOR
There is no single winner. It depends on what you need it to do.
CHASING LIGHT
I like that. Light is never just light. It is…..
What was already there but hidden in shadow.
Where to look when the world feels overwhelming.
How things change, because the same place becomes different every hour.
Our own presence, through the shadows we cast.
Hope, because even the smallest beam implies a source beyond our sight.
