Beautifully done, Richard. Seeing the buildings decay in the present day and trying your best to picture them as they were and not as they are reminds me of the heartbreak of Alzheimer’s. Powerful!
If we're not mistaken this is the picturesque ruin of the Hotel Belvedere. Our taxi driver who was taking us to the airport after a few days in Dubrovnik related how he played football in the grounds with cast and crew of Game of thrones
These are actually further down the coast - not that much further though. I didn't manage to get to visit the Belvedere but saw it a few times when we passed by boat to go to Dubrovnik
Amazing images! They spark my imagination. It is fun to visualize what this building may have looked like with people walking down those stairs. A bit sad, too, that it fell apart like this. I love the use of natural light in these images and the how they are composed.
It was quite the place to shoot - I always slightly irritate myself after the fact by thinking of other photos I should have taken here or more parts I didn't manage to explore.
I thought I’d write a comment about the location of the photos, and a little history of my latest 310.
The Bay of Kupari is just down the coast from Dubrovnik and was once a thriving holiday destination for high-ranking members of the Yugoslav army. There were five hotels in all. The Grand Hotel was built around 1920 but the others are 60’s modernist buildings - the Pelegrin was particularly striking in its prominent position on a headland.
During the Croatian War of Independence in the 1990’s the Croatian army set up camp here and were bombarded by the Yugoslav army and taken over by the Serbian army. Together with the shelling and fighting, the Serbian military looted and then gutted the floors with phosphorus bombs. Over the years the places have been stripped bare of anything valuable - copper, marble, light switches - you name it and, being open to anyone, they have been vandalised and used as dumping grounds.
There is something deeply poignant about these buildings, the bullet-pocked, burnt-out, vandalised hulks have so many stories. It would be tempting just to see the sad ones, but I thought it would be interesting to try and see these scenes through the eyes of a newly promoted Army officer and his new bride to try ( for me if no one else ) to capture what these places must have been.
The photo with the spiral staircase my my wonder at how beautiful it must have been to look out the window onto the stairs. Beauitful now but in a different way.
You’ve captured the beauty of what once was and the sadness too. Your words only elevate the photographs. Thanks for sharing this with us.
Thank you Monica - I'm glad you enjoyed.
Sadness in these amazing pictures leaving an old building fall apart like that. What picture though!
Thank you!. It was such a poignant and moving place to photograph in ...
...i love when nature eats buildings...
Part nature / part humans doing eating!
Beautifully done, Richard. Seeing the buildings decay in the present day and trying your best to picture them as they were and not as they are reminds me of the heartbreak of Alzheimer’s. Powerful!
Thank you Paul - the sadness is tinged with how grand these places once were ...
If we're not mistaken this is the picturesque ruin of the Hotel Belvedere. Our taxi driver who was taking us to the airport after a few days in Dubrovnik related how he played football in the grounds with cast and crew of Game of thrones
These are actually further down the coast - not that much further though. I didn't manage to get to visit the Belvedere but saw it a few times when we passed by boat to go to Dubrovnik
Nostalgia!
I tried to imagine what it must have been to be here in it's prime ...
Nice !!!
Thank you Sidney
WOW!
why was this place abandoned ?
Thank you - I will post a little comment about this place in a second ...
Very impactful. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you and you are welcome.
Amazing images! They spark my imagination. It is fun to visualize what this building may have looked like with people walking down those stairs. A bit sad, too, that it fell apart like this. I love the use of natural light in these images and the how they are composed.
Thank you Manuela - very kind of you
Love this. My dream shoot.
It was quite the place to shoot - I always slightly irritate myself after the fact by thinking of other photos I should have taken here or more parts I didn't manage to explore.
Amazing work! Thank you 🙏
Thank you Philippa
I thought I’d write a comment about the location of the photos, and a little history of my latest 310.
The Bay of Kupari is just down the coast from Dubrovnik and was once a thriving holiday destination for high-ranking members of the Yugoslav army. There were five hotels in all. The Grand Hotel was built around 1920 but the others are 60’s modernist buildings - the Pelegrin was particularly striking in its prominent position on a headland.
During the Croatian War of Independence in the 1990’s the Croatian army set up camp here and were bombarded by the Yugoslav army and taken over by the Serbian army. Together with the shelling and fighting, the Serbian military looted and then gutted the floors with phosphorus bombs. Over the years the places have been stripped bare of anything valuable - copper, marble, light switches - you name it and, being open to anyone, they have been vandalised and used as dumping grounds.
There is something deeply poignant about these buildings, the bullet-pocked, burnt-out, vandalised hulks have so many stories. It would be tempting just to see the sad ones, but I thought it would be interesting to try and see these scenes through the eyes of a newly promoted Army officer and his new bride to try ( for me if no one else ) to capture what these places must have been.
…of alot of things?^^
In a word: Haunting.
The photo with the spiral staircase my my wonder at how beautiful it must have been to look out the window onto the stairs. Beauitful now but in a different way.