Serbian building site, Mitrovica, Kosovo. Nov/Dec 2007

I took these to photos in North Mitrovica in Kosovo. At the time it was a small Serbian enclave that Belgrade was evidently trying to strengthen in the light of Kosovo's highly anticipated claim for independence toward the end of 2007, early 2008. Mitrovica was divided by the river Ibar, the north being mainly Serbian whilst the south bank consisted more of Kosovo Albanian residents. During the war the bridge had become a focal point of the troubles, with frequent sniper attacks and after the war 'Bridge watchers' on the northern bank, Serbian thugs who were ready to hand out a 'Kosovo Kiss' to anyone who strayed into the wrong area. The builders in the above photo were from Belgrade, sent down to Mitrovica to build apartments right on the river bank with the hope of enticing Serbs to move down and live in them, thus strengthening the Serb position in the region.

I don't know why but I still really like the top photo - I think it's the slightly hectic composition. I imagine I'd been looking at too much work by Alex Webb or someone. Anyway the rest of the images from that series is up online and you can view it here.