Mostar, 1989, a photo from Bosniak-Croat, West

Photographer's Note

Not very original, and the subject is too centered, but I uploaded it because:
1) I believe this is the only photo of this bridge on this site taken before the 1990's war. It would be interesting to compare the rest of the skyline to those taken recently, the bridge has of course been rebuilt.
2) This is probably the oldest photo I will ever upload here, taken on my first trip alone overseas.
3) To add orange colour to my map.

Taken with 50mm lens, using "mystery" film (the negative strip reads KODAK 5094 CP 100). I'm adding a B&W conversion to workshop.

About the bridge:
The 28-metre-long and 20-metre-high bridge, listed as a UNESCO world heritage site, was built by the Ottoman Turks in 1566 of 456 blocks of stone, hundreds of which fell into the river when the bridge was destroyed during Croat-Muslim clashes.

RGatward, gary91, martou, Tue, Muhamed, quantabeh, singuanti, bazal, ChrisJ, carper, xicomelo, anesugur, sarju, bibiweb, maphoto, MiguelP, jpages, tayfur, peter1892, Nambala, Aspirin, Hellas oznaczył to zdjęcie jeko użyteczne

Critiques | Translate

RGatward (20108) 2005-12-04 16:37

Very worth posting this, and I think the central placing here suits the subject, giving the bridge more prominance in the compo. Perhaps you don't mind me added it to my rather sparse theme.

teric (339) 2005-12-04 16:43

No coment just thanks for sharing with us. This is the great piece of history.

gary91 (15348) 2005-12-04 16:45

Hello Tan,
Yes you are right to color your map a little bit...
I have been there as well before it went down but I haven't retrieved any pictures of it !!!
Conventional view but historical value now.
Regards. Christian

ahmetgedikli (25609) 2005-12-04 16:50

Merhaba,
Mostar sanki bir Anadolu şehri gibi görünüyor. Fotoğraftaki o köprü savaşta yıkıldığında üzülmüştüm. Bu güzel halini sizin objektifinizle görmek harika.
Elinize sağlık, selamlar
Ahmet

Gerrit (62042) 2005-12-04 16:53

Hi Tan, I see there are minarets on both sides of the river. There was no christian and moslim part before the dividing of the nation by the servs, I presume.

Thanks for the interesting view in the past,
regards, Gerrit

martou (1660) 2005-12-04 17:13

hi Tan
another superb photo with good POV, I like the style of house, bravo and thanks for note
Martin

toni_al (15875) 2005-12-04 17:46

HI Tan
Joli cadrace, avec ce magnifique pont, joli POV avec la rivičre qui guide le regard.
Amitiés
Toni

Tue (91526) 2005-12-04 18:15

Hej Tan,
A nice view over the old town of Mostar here with the famous bridge in the middle. I like the nice colours. Good work and thanks for sharing.
Hilsner,
Lars

quantabeh (5205) 2005-12-04 19:32

Still a well composed and well balanced shot, Tan. The point of view you are showing here is really pretty good.
cheers,
Behrang

kclai (2267) 2005-12-04 21:23

Hi Tan
Interesting notes on the bridge. well, you really put in the effort to come up with this notes.
The picture looked like a miniture garden with this little stream flow and the little bridge in the mid of the landscape.
OLD is GOLD, Tan.
Well done, again, Tam.
Eric Lai

singuanti (15250) 2005-12-04 22:06

Hi Tan. Yes I think I've seen this bridge on TE before but this shot is among the best I've seen of it. I agree it would be fascinating to do an a/b comparison. While the bridge is centered the river continues on and takes our eye beyond center, so that helps. This shot certainly does scream old Europe. Very nice work here Tan!

besnard (59196) 2005-12-05 1:40

Bonjour Tan
Trčs belle composition bien cadrée avec de jolies couleurs et cette voie d'eau qui conduit le regard vers le pont.
Merci pour le partage.
Nicole

bazal (7900) 2005-12-05 2:45

Hi Tan.
So here's the very famous Mostar bridge... It's great to have this view taken before the last war in Bosnia. Superb composition with a good balance and superb quality of the scan. Many thanks for sharing !

rbcy1974 (20758) 2005-12-05 2:51

Merhaba Tan,
It is amazing not just from the Balkan historic perspective but also from the captain's historical perspective. YOur first overseas trip was in 1989? wow you have covered a heck of a lot of ground in the last 16 years, congratulations!
I dont find the bridge that centered, I think that it fits well were it is with it being slightly on the right as we can appreciate the surroundings.
Well done
Regards
Daniel

ChrisJ (171172) 2005-12-05 3:55

Hi Tan

I like the centerpiece of the arched bridge. This area looks Islamic, with the minaret on the skyline. Good color, lighting & saturation. Congratulations!

PixelTerror (0) 2005-12-05 5:32

Hi Tan,
I agree to your note in that this oldie definitely has a strong historical value as well as a personal (congratulations on coloring BiH !) one. I can also follow you on the composition thoughts, many of my pre-TE shots seem now ugly to me when I look at them ! But I like here the good overall scan quality and the many rising minarets we can see in the frame, definitely something exotic in Europe !
Have a nice day,
Jean-Yves

lukie (0) 2005-12-05 10:26

Hello Tan,

this is a terricif view on this village. It has always been a shame that wars destroy those beauties, but it's even more sad that many people get killed. It's good to show us how it was.

regards,

Luc.

carper (96) 2005-12-05 10:31

yes Tan this is one with a past for many people I think.
the composition is very good taken, the colours are good, oke this is an old photo, but from a good photographer,
gr. jaap

Cliffy (590) 2005-12-05 10:33

I remember seeing the pictures of this being destroyed during the war and also the recent film of it being re-opened.It is good to see such a fine shot of the pre war bridge and this is well composed and exposed showing off the rich colours of the area.

Cormac (26565) 2005-12-05 11:03

Very nice peicture - not as well put together as your later stuff, but this is such a picturesqe scene that it works. It would be nice to see some more recent shots to compare, but it's a beautiful old town. Well done!

xicomelo (686) 2005-12-05 11:39

Great picture of Mostar. I don't know if it is because your note or not, but it seems a really quite place, a lovely place, so different from the war times. Good shot!

Deepforest (9260) 2005-12-05 13:42

Hi Tan,
Fantastic picture of Mostar and historical bridge. Very good composition, sharpness and nice natural colours. Interesting note. Thanks for sharing.
Regards,
Andrzej

cherryripe (21033) 2005-12-05 13:56

Hi Tan
It's true that it's not one of your best mostly due to the grain. I like the framing with the way the river winds under the bridge.

Unfortunately I don't have one to post of this bridge for the following reason. I was in Mostar in October 1988 and remember taking shots of guys jumping off it despite the cold. A couple of weeks later, my camera and undevelopped films including all my shots of pre-war Sarajevo, Mostar and Dubrovnik were stolen on a train in Italy. Sob Sob !
At least I can put this one in among my favorites so I can look at it when I want to.
Thanks for sharing.
Nikki

anesugur (18789) 2005-12-05 15:24

Merhaba Tan
Bu fotoğrafı tarihi bir belge olarak kabul etmek doğru olur sanırım.Ne kadar şanslısınki bu eserin orijinal halini görüp fotoğraflamışsın.
İyi ki oradaymışsın ve bu güzelliği bize taşımışsın.
Sonsuz teşekkürler. Uğur

sarju (5324) 2005-12-05 21:51

Hi Tan
To a north American eye .. this scene looks like a still from the fairly tale ... It is definitely very interesting picture and you have captured the architectural details pretty well.
It is nice to look at something from the past.
I am completely okay with your centered bridge in this photo as the bend in the flow of river adds enough tension to withstand the centered bridge
tfs ... cheers ... sarju

Kenny10pin (19301) 2005-12-05 22:38

great shot here of the bridge and the stone housing, he water is beautiful, very well shot

bibiweb (8) 2005-12-06 0:03

Hi Tan,
Congratulations for this historical shot! Even if it's not perfect from a photographic point of view, I'm glad you decided to share it with us. Yes, the bridge is a bit too centered, but the rest of the photo is of excellent quality and there's so much emotion to think that this was taken before the 1990 war. Everything looks so peaceful here!
Have a nice day.
Brigitte

fayeulle (27827) 2005-12-06 7:12

Hi Captain
The mystery Kodak 5094 CP100 is KODACOLOR VR 100 Gen 1. If you are interrested I can mail you a PDF file with major types of flim.
It's very interresting to view Mostar before the war.
Cheers
JP

john_c (24666) 2005-12-06 11:10

Hi Tan,
Very good clarity in this shot for such an old photo. The colours are preserved well and the water hues mix well with the dominating colours of the structures. I haven't seen the rebuilt bridge, but this old one is very appealing. Quite an interesting mix of buildings, with many little spires. A fine capture.
John

maphoto (8082) 2005-12-07 23:08

Maybe centered but with so many details surrounding the bridge it's working perfectly for me, colorful and beautiful place, well done.

MiguelP (14470) 2005-12-08 12:49

This days makes 10 years since the was ended there, today at the Cannary island here in Spain, police has arrested a supposed criminal of war from the Balkan conflict, now I see your photo. I went to Sarajevo just after de war. It was a personal experience I keep in mind, as I will keep this photo of you. Let me recommend you a book: "A bridge over the river Drina" by Ivo Andric, I think you might like it. Take care golfo.

jpages (1670) 2005-12-09 10:54

Hi Tan,
excellent historical photographic moment. This place has been too very well known because of the disaster of the war. Every time I see it I recognize it, but I have never seen a shot from this point of view, showing us the wide village with the minaretes. Houses mix between red roofs, the blue river with the bridge... all makes of it a very nice composition. Good work.
Best regards
Jaume

fadingstar78 (420) 2005-12-17 9:56

1,2,3 you've said it all. it's also a good picture. Yes, maybe too centered which gives it too much of a 'postcard' feel.

izmirli (3989) 2005-12-20 17:01

Sevgili tan
Bütün çalımaların güzel.Ama mostar ailemin geldiği yer olduğu için,benim için çok değerli
tebrikler. sevgiler ve saygılar.

Henryk_Bilor (20803) 2006-01-12 16:20

Hi Tan
Oldies but goldies.
Great capture of the bridge. Also interesting, sad note.
Greetings

peter1892 (1681) 2006-01-19 4:59

It might not be your best 'technical' work Tan, but it's still a very interesting historical shot & worthy of posting here. Good colours too, and it's very sharp!

erdo (569) 2006-04-27 14:12

Bosna ve eski mostar köprüsü olması ayrı bir anlam katsada , konu ortalanmış şu bu -- çok güzel renkler ve oturmuş bir fotograf bu.sağol
erdogan

daddo (28748) 2006-04-28 22:05

Greetings Tan. It breaks my heart to see these images of the Old Bridge. I walked across it many years ago and although the new one they say is authentic looking, those smoothly polished stones that countless feet have polished over the centuries are gone forever, so has that feeling of common Humanity. It is all so sad to be born in a world where people cannot see past colour, flag and national hymns.( Shuold we include religion too?) Salaam to you Tan. Klaudio

Aspirin (278) 2006-09-27 22:05

Hi Tan,
A lovely old photo.
Nice informative note here.

Thanks for sharing

Hellas (7123) 2007-03-28 9:20

Hello Tan,
this is the value of older photos. You could n't have known this when you captured this magnificent icon and now you have to be proud of it. We are also happy to see it through this lovely site and your gallery. Wonderful place and very well exposed photo ,too.
Tfs, regards,
Athanasios.

anokutan (15097) 2007-05-07 1:30

merhabalar tan,
tarihin derinliklerinden nefis bir görüntü sunduğun için teşekkürler ve tebrikler.

mineelci (1535) 2007-05-07 2:07

I almost grown up with this view from the magazines-calenders' photos. I was deeply upset when it disturbed. I still love watch it from old days' photos :)TFS Lovely colors.

giorgimer (35017) 2008-04-01 0:13

Hi Tan,

very good documentation, I like your idea, image is good as well, beautiful colors and archhitecture.

TFS

Gio