Belgrade, Serbia. Along the railway tracks, among abandoned warehouses and industrial skeletons, one of the most dramatic pages of our time is unfolding. Hundreds of refugees — mostly from Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq — have found shelter in these makeshift refuges in an attempt to get closer to the borders of the European Union.
Through this documentary photographic project, I wanted to bear witness to a reality that many prefer to ignore: the struggle for survival of those who, fearing pushbacks, avoid official facilities to remain in the shadows, even when the Serbian winter turns the warehouses into a true hell of ice.
Documentation in Extreme Conditions: The images capture the raw reality of temperatures that plummet to -20°C. I documented the suspended daily life of men and boys braving the cold, where smoke from makeshift fires inside the warehouses fills the air, tragically evoking the ghosts of Europe's past.
Social Photography and Human Rights: The focus of the coverage is not just the news story, but the human impact. The shots portray illness, the lack of medicine, and the wounded dignity of those trapped in a bureaucratic and climatic limbo. Every photograph is an act of denunciation against a humanitarian catastrophe unfolding just a few kilometers from our borders.
Cinematic Language and Truth: Beyond photographs, the collected material includes video fragments that capture the sound of the cold and the silence of the warehouses, offering a broader vision that goes beyond a single news story, aiming at historical memory.
In an age of information overload, the role of the reportage photographer is to stop time and force the eye to linger. This work on Belgrade is a civic commitment, a necessary narrative for those who believe photography must still be a tool for awareness and social change.
