Photographer: Ivica Jakovljević

Last evening, completely by chance, I have discovered the most beautiful online photo gallery with works by certain Ivica Jakovljević and his magic pictures of Zagreb, its corners, nooks and crannies really moved me to tears. Now, as I already noted here on this blog, the fact that I was born and raised in Zagreb usually leave me quite indifferent - I accept it as my birthplace but its not necessarily a hometown, partly because there is no living family to keep me here, partly because my nomadic life led me elsewhere around the world and I have discovered at least dozen other places where I feel comfortable, happy and even excited, while good old Zagreb somehow always feel dirty, grey and full of graffiti. I am perfectly aware that its my own psychological block that keeps me from relaxing in these familiar surroundings - or perhaps its true, I have no emotional ties to this city - why else I feel completely at peace in far away places instead on the street where I grew up, however I always loved old black & white photographs of bygone era until now.

Mr. Jakovljević is artist - not even born in Zagreb, by the way - who has such a beautiful gift, its almost poetry set in images and because he has a wonderful heart, he sees details and beauty in places that most of the people would just walk by without noticing colors everywhere. I find very interesting that he was born elsewhere and later got transplanted to Zagreb, since it shows that his inner compass works no matter where he finds himself. He could be in Siberia or inner Mongolia and surely he would still discover amazing scenes there. On these pictures of Zagreb he depicted beauty that he found in everyday life and I was so genuinely moved that I almost purred with pleasure for recognizing places that under normal circumstances I wouldn't look twice. My first immediate reaction was to share this photos with all my friends from Zagreb who might enjoy this (they were sincerely delighted) and than snuggled comfortably for the rest of Sunday evening with these pictures, I couldn't give myself a better present. I even complimented the guy who responded graciously. What a beautiful artist and truly spiritual person. It actually made me look on my town with fresh eyes.