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ECONOMOPOULOS, N., In the Balkans. Photographs by Nikos Economopoulos / Magnum Photos. Introduction by Fr. Viviano. Harry N. Abrams, New York, 1995. 126p. Richly ills.((N&W photographs). Original red cloth with pictorial dust wrappers. 'Ever since I was a child, growing up in Greece, I knew that the Turks, as well as the Slavs, Bulgarians, and Albanians, were all enemies of my country. When I first went to Turkey, however, insteds of fining myself in a hostile country, I felt entirely at home. Everything seemed somehow familiar: the facial features of the people, the smells emanating from kitchens, the local cafes, the bazaars, the passionate and uncontrolled demonstrations, and the inefficiencies of a lumbering bureaucracy. Intrigued by the similarity between Turkey and Greece, I began exploring other Balkan countries to see if there was a common thread linking us all. Was it, in fact, just the blade of a sheathed sword keeping us apart? Yet beyond documenting each country's individual history, found myself weaving togethera collective identity in an area infamous for its historical differences. Life in such an explosive area follows an unusual rhythm that brushes with the irrational. The passing from intimacy to hatred, from peace to war, from hospitality to hostility, from celebration to slaughter can occur in an untracable moment. There is a provocative uneasiness that threatens to overturn the typical situation, the commonplace experience. Yet in this region the Balkan people have created their own curious identity, unique across ethnic borders, political divisions, and religious schisms. They have somehow become members of a tribe. I searched, through my photographs, for the flame in everyday Balkan life that both melts the Balkan people together, yet continues to blast them apart.' (NIKOS ECONOMOPOULOS in the Foreword, p.5). € 95.00 (Antiquarian) ISBN: 9780810934696