Manjača – Serbian Refugees Crossing the Drina with Livestock, January 1993

Product Description

In January 1993, Serbian civilians fled across the Drina River into Serbia, escaping advancing Bosnian Army units. Near the village of Crvice, entire families crossed the river together with their livestock—their last remaining possessions. This photograph shows a moment of forced migration where survival outweighed all else.

Until then, my only image of refugees came from Uroš Predić’s painting Herzegovinian Refugees. What I witnessed on the banks of the Drina was far more immediate and brutal. These people were not symbols or historical figures—they were neighbors, farmers, parents, and children driven from their homes overnight.

Animals were taken along not out of sentiment, but necessity. For many families, cattle represented food, income, and the possibility of starting over. Leaving them behind would have meant complete destitution. The crossing was chaotic, cold, and dangerous, yet carried out with quiet determination.

I photographed continuously, aware that these scenes were disappearing as quickly as they were unfolding. Editors at the Gamma agency later remarked on the sheer volume of material arriving from this location, but there was no other choice—everything demanded to be recorded.

This was not an organized evacuation. It was flight. War had once again reduced ordinary people to refugees, forcing them to abandon homes, land, and a way of life built over generations. Those who incited and profited from the conflict would never stand on these riverbanks, never wade through icy water, never look back knowing they might never return.