Presentation photography project "Between fears and hope" - Fabrice Dekoninck

Sandici Meadow, one of the Srebrenica genocide detention sites where surrendered prisoners were gathered before their execution.

Abandoned home in Srebrenica city center.

Photograph of the city center of Bratunac with Srebrenica sign in the background.

Photograph of a group a young boys in Sarajevo with a crow in the foreground.

Between Fears and Hope (2020-2024)

Documented over almost four years in Bosnia and Herzegovina and across several European countries, this project traces both the enduring scars and the fragile hopes left by war. Revisiting the region’s recent history, it focuses on survivors and on the visible traces of violence, apparent in faces and landscapes.

Bosnia and Herzegovina, still governed by the Dayton Peace Agreement—a settlement that ended hostilities but cemented a divided political structure—remains haunted by unresolved memories. In Republika Srpska, the project bears witness to sites of genocide and mass graves, where silence persists and remembrance is often suppressed. In Srebrenica, the lives of Ahmed Hrustanović and his family, survivors who returned to a devastated hometown, reflect daily existence in the shadow of denial and trauma. In Kozarac and Prijedor, the history of ethnic cleansing and the testimony of survivors such as Satko Mujagić, a former concentration camp detainee, reveal the lasting weight of memory and ongoing struggle.

Through photography and reportage, the project reveals a society still bound by its painful past. Many young people leave in search of new beginnings, while genuine reconciliation remains elusive. Yet hope persists—in the legacy of figures like Jovan Divjak, and in the resilience of activists and youth who work relentlessly to overcome inherited hatred and build a multi-ethnic, united Bosnia.

Using Format