The surroundings of Dimitrovgrad are hilly and mountainous landscape elongated in the southwest-northeast direction. The territory of the municipality is divided into five smaller spatial units: Gornje Ponišavlje, Gornji Visok, Zabrđe, Burel, and Derekul.
The trend of leaving the village did not bypass the villages in the municipality of Dimitrovgrad. In the early 1980s, people were slowly leaving their homes.
30 years later, villages that had an average of about 40 houses with 5.6 or more members currently have no more than 10 inhabitants. The old rural architecture, which still leaves you breathless today, has been left to the ravages of time and decay. The scenes of abandoned schools, barns, barns are reminiscent of scenes from Chernobyl.
People who have remained in their hearths live peacefully, secluded in solitude. When you ask them what they miss the most, everyone unanimously says PEOPLE.
How much more time and generations will pass to understand what the whole village has suffered and lost, and that life and happiness do not require much, but clean air, water, and a seat in the middle of the village.
These are portraits of just some of the people I have met since 2018 until now working on the Last Residents project.
Photos&Text by Stefan Pavić
Okolinu Dimitrovgrada čini brdsko-planinski predeo izdužen u pravcu jugozapad-severoistok. Teritorija opštine deli se na pet manjih prostornih celina:
Gornje Ponišavlje, Gornji Visok, Zabrđe, Burel i Derekul.
Trend napuštanja sela nije zaobišao ni sela u opštini Dimitrovgrad. Početkom 80-tih godina prošlog veka ljudi su polako napuštali svoja ognjišta. 30 godina kasnije, sela koja su imala u proseku oko 40 kuća sa po 5,6 ili više članova trenutno imaju ne više od 10 stanovnika.
Stara seoska arhitektura, koja i dan danas ostavlja bez daha prepuštena je zubu vremena i propadanju. Scene napuštenih škola,ambara,štala deo podsećaju na scene iz Černobilja. Ljudi koji su ostali u svojim ognjištima žive mirno,povučeno u samoći. Kada ih pitate šta im najviše nedostaje svi jednoglasno kažu LjUDI.
Koliko će još vremena i generacija proći da bi shvatili šta je sve selo pretrpelo i izgubilo i da za život i sreću ne treba puno, već čist vazduh,voda i sedenće na sred selo. Ovo su portreti samo nekih od ljudi koje sam upoznao od 2018. godine do sad radeći na projektu Poslednji stanovnici.
Fotografije i tekst - Stefan Pavić