Europea
In the beginning, humans migrated from Africa to the landmass we now call Europe. However, it would take a further 37,000 years for the first European borders to take shape. Photographer Joakim Kocjancic has a hard time accepting theses borders and has for the last two decades been travelling across the continent searching for an identity that is not limited by these borders. Kocjancic sees the people that he depicts as a part of himself, of his identity, and feels that we are all a part of each other. His extensive travels have made these cities blend together into one metropolis, dissolving borders and shifting the focus onto the human condition. With his black-and-white images he tries to arrange and create a balance in the fast-paced urban life – and at the same time creates an inner reality in the borderland between dreams and reality. Europea is a homage to people and to the unusual in the everyday.”Looking back on the years I’ve spent around Europe, I realise it was about a search for an identity that wasn’t restricted by nationality. By reflecting myself in other people, I search for myself, find points of reference, make sense of my values, discover the things I love, and preserve what I don’t want to be lost.”