“The man who has no imagination has no wings.” A famous phrase from Muhammad Ali, one of the greatest boxers in history. Imagination is precisely the element that has inspired the latest exhibition by Boban Vaiagich, creative director for more than 25 years, whose photos invite us to let ourselves be carried away by our minds and fly to a fantastic world of color and extravagant shapes with Barcelona as the protagonist. . In his photographic exhibition, Imaginando, he pays tribute to inspiration.
Born in Serbia, Vaiagich had to flee in 1993 with his wife from the land where he had grown up, as a result of the Balkan War, leaving an entire life behind, with the longing to return in the future. His first stop in exile was Lisbon, where he was working as a graphic designer for 10 years. After this time, he was called by another company specialized in graphic design in Prague, where he had to move. Then great job opportunities would come to him in London and, finally, he would return to the Portuguese capital, which had welcomed him since he fled his country.
The birth of his daughter Tina in 2013 changed his life. With the desire to live in Catalonia since he was little and seduced by the Catalan culture, he finally moved to Barcelona, where he has been residing since 2016. Due to personal circumstances, his wife returned to Belgrade with his daughter. And now, Vaiagich lives between the Serbian capital and Barcelona.
Since he stepped foot in the city, he felt at home. Ella boban had been to many cities around the world, but the special connection she felt with Barcelona had never been felt before. Her family in Serbia did not understand that she wanted to stay in Catalonia. “You don't have money, what are you going to do?”, “What are you going to live on?”, “And what are you going to do with the language?” “And Tina, are you going to keep her away from her friends?”... They were questions that Boban heard daily, but he was clear that there was no going back and that he would stay in Barcelona against all odds.
Boban, like all photographers, has influences. In his case, by Chema Madoz or Isabel Muñoz, for the creativity in his works, which have inspired Boban to create fantastic figures in his images, such as in the photograph of the dragon on top of Antoni Gaudí's Casa Batlló. From the point of view of the form of portraits and street photography, his references come from two English photographers, John Gill and Jimmy Nelson.
Boban Vaiagich's photo gallery is a display of very elaborate photos, which could not be carried out without appropriate editing. “With programs like Lightroom or Photoshop I can achieve the objective I'm looking for in the photos. I spend many hours editing, but the result is worth it,” he says. Still, his photography is spontaneous, capturing the opportunity and the moment. “I manage to capture something that others are not lucky enough to see,” he says.
Imbued with love for Catalan culture and traditions and, therefore, for the city of Barcelona, Vaiagich has directed his photographic style to capture images of the city's modernist architecture, popular traditions and also, its people. “I want to show how Catalan society is rich and open to people who come from other places in the world. There is no individualism. The Catalans unite, they support each other. A clear example is the human towers. Every time I see them I get excited,” he says.
Imagining is the exhibition that Vaiagich held at the Studentski Kulturni Centar in Belgrade, his hometown. It was a very media show. The idea for the exhibition arose from the drawings that his daughter Tina made since she was little.
When they arrived in Barcelona, Tina did not know how to speak Spanish or Catalan, and her way of interacting was by drawing. Her father found the illustrations her daughter made very interesting, since they were very elaborate to be made by a girl her age. This is when she decided to be inspired by her drawings to capture this series of photos full of imagination.
“There is a child inside us latent all our lives,” he says. Vaiagich has experienced arduous situations, but they have never managed to bring out the fantasy and innocence of childhood in his long life. “Parents stop children's imagination and it is a mistake. We should not stop children's desire and ambition to dream, we must let them fly freely."
For Boban Vaiagich, imagination is what keeps hope alive and allows us to escape from the noise and chaos of the dirty and ugly reality of everyday life. This reflection led him to organize the conceptual line of his photographic exhibition around the imagination, uniting his love for Barcelona, his daughter and his fantasy in a unique concept. Imagining.
