The war in Central Bosnia Photo Gallery by James Mason at pbase.com

The war in Central Bosnia

In the spring of 1992 the Serbs attacked Bosnia. While the world focused on Sarajevo, the real fighting was going on in villages and towns which to this day have not recovered. Most of the time it wasn't even fighting, but murder by an army. Before too long the Croats in Bosnia and those loyal to the government in Sarajevo, mostly Muslims, were fighting. It was the Balkanization of Yugoslavia.

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Military training doesn't fade away	vitez025.JPG	The family war	Heading up
Foreign Legion with Croatian refugees	High stakes poker	Everybody does their time	Lunch on the front line
The refugee	Canadian at checkpoint	Work crew from Olovo	Humanitarian aid

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comment |

Dave		02-Sep-2014 20:49
Hi James, Only just come across your wonderful photos, especially the Yugoslav War which I have always been interested in. Have you ever made some of these photographs available to buy?

James Mason		27-Aug-2014 06:29
I'll check the originals to see if I can read the name. Did you see my foto from Olovo?

Guest		26-Aug-2014 19:26
i am from olovo? whats the name on the rifle?

James Mason		17-Apr-2014 20:16
Paul, I check the site regularly. Almost all these places are on the internet now and I get emails from people who are in the photos. A woman from Vitez, who I photographed when she was 8, sent me a picture of herself with her two kids. On page six of this gallery there is a photo taken in Olovo. Two people from Olovo have responded and I think both included their email addresses. So check that out. Did you buy a Thompson? For some reason there were a lot of them there….but no ammo.

Guest		17-Apr-2014 16:47
Hi, I don't know if anyone still checks this sight but I am trying to contact someone in Olovo. Several years ago I purchased a rifle that had some words cut into the stock. I recently was able to get it translated and it is a Muslim mans name and the town of Olovo. Does anyone know if I could contact someone in Olovo? I would like to find out what happened to this person. Sincerely, Paul Barrow

Guest		22-Jun-2013 00:56
Hutu and Tutsi case in Central Europe ? Yugoslavia - Sick territory of Europe

kaskader52		06-Nov-2012 19:45
james skupa smo pravili ove fotografije na brdu javi se..........

kaskader52		06-Nov-2012 19:37
james puno poz iz viteza tvoj prijatelj sa slika javi se.........

Guest		18-Oct-2012 05:11
Thank you James for these amazing gallery's,I found them deeply moving. Living here in NZ I just cant imagine the suffering that went on there, Just a suggestion but don't delete the negative comments posted here as it gives the likes of myself an insight into the level of hatred there. Thank you and wishing you well... Regards, Ray

Guest		02-May-2012 10:49
Hello James, We are a film production company and we are searching to contact you about one of your photos. Can you please sent us your contact infos at contact@films-am.com ? Have a nice day and thank you very much !

Naveen arya		09-Apr-2012 08:53
war is nothing it is a excuess of voilense...nobody get nothing in war .they only get .... Dead bodies,, blood , treas, pain ... In war nobody hurts ..but only A innocent humen being and his family tourcheds .mentaly n phisicaly ...... WAR IS NOT A SOLUTION - IT IS AGENST THE HUMENITY - :((((

Giancarlo Guzzardi		12-May-2011 10:57
great reportage

Giancarlo Guzzardi		12-May-2011 10:57
great reportage

Joe		19-May-2010 12:15
Friend Being from South Africa - all I can say is thank you for showing the rest of us what war and ideology is all about and the outcome on innocent people. I am saddened by this part of history and I wish some day that peace and harmony can be present in that part of the world. Thank you for your trouble and experiences and your tears. Your work is great and sad but needed.

GARDIAN		13-Mar-2009 00:24
Sometimes, it is very strong story in pick, sometimes it present all bizarre of war and sometimes (because I survive) I have feeling that world dont know what happened in Bosnia...WE WAS A SOVEREIGN STATE AND WHOLE WORLD WAS LOOKING AT NEWS THAT SOME MONKEYS IN BALKAN TAKE GUNS AN KILL EACH OTHER...AND WE HAVE A ENBARGO ON WEAPON...PLEASE TELL THE TRUTHS ( try to find a pic from TARIK SAMARAH ) SORRY AND THANKS

Erni		01-Feb-2009 17:52
Hey James...first of all great pictures... but can you tell me how many HVO soldiers and ARBiH soldiers were killed during the Bosniac-Croat war? Or just the exact number of killed HVO soldiers in the Vitez-Busovaca area during the Bosniac-Croat war.....thnx anyway (p.s. If anybody on this forum knows these facts can you please tell me that, I am making an essay for school about this war)...thnx

bega		28-Oct-2008 04:12
I love your photos and would love to have some of them in high resolution if you have. I'm from Bosnia and lived in Sarajevo during the war/aggression on Bosnia. Thank you so much for this such rich gallery. If possible please let me know if I can have it in hq resolution.Thanks in advance.

Thomas Agee		12-Oct-2008 06:19
Horrifying. I think about the U.S. civil war & wonder about how neighbors & sometimes even brothers fought & killed each other. To think that this is still going on even today is almost unbelievable. I just cannot believe that hatred could simmer so long.

OvnakVitez		25-Sep-2008 00:32
ti majmune sa nikom Za bosnu kako mozes spajat nas i balije zbilja si mutav pljujes po srbima a spajas nas sa turcima jebali te oni nemoj nas stavljat ni sa jednima u kos, svi su oni banda neprijateljska srbi u posavini a turci u srednjoj bosni i hercegovini

Guest		25-Jul-2008 23:18
Hi James, I want to thank you for your beautiful pictures. My family is from Prozor (I'm Croatian) and looking at them really gives me an idea of what happened. I think you've done a wonderful thing by documenting what happened, and by trying to let the world know. You've lead an interesting life, and by the way you looked pretty cool in the 70s! Thanks, Katarina

ERICHVO		17-Jul-2008 20:57
Hello, bok, your picts are very greats, very strange and emotionnal to look, because i was in Cro Army, in Croatia and in Herceg, i was in Vakuf, Mostar, etc, and i ve known some of guys in the picts, the Mostar cimetery were Mack is ........ Best regard

hermanv10		28-Apr-2008 19:56
I have been in bosnia with the UN in the winter of 93/94. I was in many places like Mostar, Konjic, Sarajevo, Vitez and Tuzla and many more. I have seen a lot of destruction and sorow wich gave me now after 13 jears some mental problems. These very confronting photo's bring back many memories. Some good some bad. I am very happy to have found thes pictures, because there are not so many pictures of that time on the internet, and those wich are, are not far as good as yours.

James Mason		24-Apr-2008 02:00
Hvala na pozdrav Chedo. Nismo mi zaboravili i kakvi ste vi. - James

Guest		23-Apr-2008 12:08
Kakvi ste vi ludaci iskompleksirani, lazljivi i smrdljivi hrvati. Fuj.

Guest		31-Mar-2008 21:46
Guy who smoking in the sand pit is my friend and he is well and alive . I had a blast teling him how I found his photos ,I was with Third Corp. and he was with HVO .

Guest		23-Nov-2007 02:12
I regularly browse the pictures here on Pbase, but I’ve never come across anything this powerful. Well done for these awesome images and it must have taken a lot of courage to capture them… Very definite vote

Guest		22-Nov-2007 11:07
Breathtaking gallery showing us a real war. v

Guest		22-Nov-2007 10:32
Powerful images! Thanks for recording the history and the cruel wars...

James Mason		19-Nov-2007 18:39
The Andric girl and the two gypsy kids, brother and sister, were wounded by the same mortar round. I was living at Viktoria and Milan's most of the summer of 93 and into the fall. I know a lot of stuff I'm not talking about here with the pictures...

Guest		19-Nov-2007 13:03
Looks like we were at the same place, same time...it was a very sad phase of my life.Little Andric girl who lost her arm, little gypsy boy+sister, they lived in the same building where my sister lived... Wish just that right now the young would have some brighter future to look into, although does not seem like that (lousy governments and the lack of it actually). I hope you feel better now, it is probably the stress and not the heart-attack.

James Mason		19-Nov-2007 03:58
Zvjezda: If you go to www.VIIphoto.com you'll find some photos of the war by Chris Morris, Gary Knight, Alexandra Boulat, and Jim Nachtwey. Not a lot of images, but really good ones. There should be other websites out there, but I don't know what they are. Magnum Photos had several photographers there for extended periods.

zvjezda11		19-Nov-2007 00:08
Wow, some amazing photos... nice work. The war in Central Bosnia is the biggest "what if" of the Bosnian war for me. Had the Croat-Bosnian alliance held, I wonder what sort of Bosnia we'd be looking at today. Are these all your photos? Do you know of any other good links to quality photography from the war? I'd really appreciate it.

vojnik1		03-Nov-2007 18:38
btw nise pic and good work James

vojnik1		03-Nov-2007 18:37
i wonder did I kill any of this men?i was bosnian army soldier i fought against hvo on Kacama near Novi Travnik. decade ago we killed each other and now we sit together drinkin coffee

James Mason		31-Oct-2007 19:56
Originally I was told I'd had a heart attack....a visit to a cardiologist came up with a diagnosis of no heart attack. So what happened? The doctors can't agree. But I am feeling a lot better. Unfortunately, I'm dealing with a different medical problem and am stuck at home. I don't think there will be a war for a while, but I'm sort of out of the loop. If there is one, and my health is back on track, I'll be there. Meanwhile, the opening of the Northwest Passage is what really has my attention. - James

James Mason		30-Jul-2007 16:54
Hrvatski Vitez, imam bolje pitanje za tebe....ko ce zavrsiti rat? I kada? James Mason

Kiwi UNPROFOR		25-Jul-2007 14:45
Your work James has had a significant effect in my own journey of healing. It has been some 13 years and I still have bad dreams about my time in central Bosnia 1995. I have gone public and have begun to address public forums in my own experiences as a UN UNPROFOR soldier with the Kiwis in Santici, Vitez. I travelled all over Bosnia with my commanding officer and witnessed war at its worst. It is difficult to read on your sight that people such as you who recorded history, continue to blame all others for thier own failings in life! This hate will leed to self distruction and self pitty. I was fortunate to befriend a wonderful young muslim soldier, from Stari Vitez, who presented himself as a compasionate and moral human being at all times. I only hope that he survived and has continued to educate others in forgivness and healing. My story concerns many of the places you have worked and of the people who were caught in the middle of the firing line! I will never forget the town of Maglaj and the senseless sniper activity involving young children. Us Kiwi's made an individual sniper accountable for his actions, this is the one occasion I feel no real regret. However the families he destoryed continue to pay the price. Thank you James and get well soon.

Mladen		29-Jun-2007 19:00
hvala ja dugo nisam bio na ovom sajtu,uskoro cemo za Trusinu pa trebamo nekoga naseg za neke pojedinosti u svezi zlocina u Trusini,evo ti mail pa javi se.. bog Mladen19@ hotmail.com

hrvatski vitez zia konjic		27-May-2007 01:54
ej mladen evo javim ti sada, kako je tamo kuci ?

Mladen		25-May-2007 14:53
Viteze konjicki,javi mi se, od fojnice sam iz hvidre zanimaju me neke pojedinosti u svezi Konjica i naseg naroda, bog

hrvatski vitez iza konjic		18-May-2007 03:39
one last thing you think der will be another one, well when do you think this will happen n how it will start coz really bosnia is just another yugo but a far smaller version

James Mason		16-May-2007 23:29
Sorry Vitez, but in the interest of taking good care of my heart I'm not going to do any more arguing about the war in the Balkans. Besides, it's time to forget the last war and get ready for the next one! James

hrvatski vitez iza konjic		16-May-2007 03:16
ohhh bad to hear james hope you get better, take obviously as much time as you need, so you can show us what you experienced through your eyes ?? ummm just one Q for you as you were there and saw it with your own eyes who was the agressor in the muslim croat conflict and also who by majority of antagonisms started it ?? please thank you as i want to see your point of view

James Mason		13-May-2007 08:01
Sorry, but I had a heart attack and havent' been feeling so good. It wasn't a serious heart attack, but I'm still very weak. Also, I'm seriously anemic and getting regular blood transfusions. Before too long I'll be back at it. But first, let me get well, OK? James Mason

hrvatski vitez iza konjic		13-May-2007 03:39
james ti si pravi ustase za dom spremni lol ..... as u said before you wanted this site to portray your own experiences in the war hence forth you have no updates at alll for some serious time..in which you wasting such potential for a magnificant site.. as i believe of what you said before you had many many photos to show us all the world!!!

Mladen		17-Apr-2007 15:40
james ,every time I start to cry when I see your photos,and I lok them every fucking day.... HVo soldier from Central BIH

hrvatski vitez iza konjic		08-Apr-2007 09:36
did u meet anyone worth meeting plus tell me an interesting story that would be very nice to hear about an experience of yours in the war

HOSovac		08-Apr-2007 02:11
James> By not meeting Blaz kraljevic- You missed out on meeting someone who believed that a united Croat-Bosniak force was needed for the future of BiH. By driving the Serbs over the Drina the Croats and Bosniaks could live in peace and in wealth.

James Mason		06-Apr-2007 18:46
never did James

hrvatski vitez iza konjic		06-Apr-2007 10:09
james did u ever get to meet blaz kraljevic ?

Serb baby killer		13-Mar-2007 08:06
stefan> There are no honorable serbs, those that cleansed the innocent are dogs those that didn't kill the innocent supported the Cetnik dogs. You people are all the same. The Serbs in Bosnia are losing the grip. Rep.Srpska will eventually lose the power it once had creating the E.U to have no choice but to incorporate that region back into Bosnia proper. Bosnia cannot enter the E.U as half a country. The Serbs like or hate it will have no chouce in the end. There vice president is a muslim so thats a start to the overall process. Beograd is sick of sending money to BL as it is broke. Unemployment is at 50%. professionals are leaving abroad, there is no future for the young as they want to go to Serbia for a better life. Kosovo is lost Rep.Srpska is next-all in good time!

James Mason		10-Mar-2007 06:29
Stefan, I recognize that there are Serbs who are honorable people, who did not participate in the crimes during the war, who did not buy into the craziness. You say you will succeed in the end. I'd be curious to know what your idea of success is. James Mason

Serb baby killer		05-Mar-2007 13:09
Stefan> You can't win when you have already lost.

Kendzo		05-Mar-2007 00:01
Zidar> I would be nice if you had some photo's regarding the successful operation of the Croatian & Bosnian Army-Oluja & Sana. Well done to Atif's boys!

Guest		03-Mar-2007 21:23
lol you guys are sad. we will succeed in the end with or without your anti-serb propaganda

Kendzo		02-Mar-2007 06:46
kendzo> I was in Mostar in 1993 with the HVO. I was upset that the Croats and Bosniaks broke ranks. Our real enemy is the dirty rotten Serbs. Don't worry zidar i know just as much as you do regarding Bosnia as I have a uncle who lives in Kiseljak.

James Mason		26-Feb-2007 15:36
Just out of curiosity, Kendzo, where did you spend the summer of '93? James Mason

Kendzo		26-Feb-2007 12:46
zidar > 1.Could you please eleberate on "ex-commie who wear rosaries". Regarding Dario Kordic. 2. Did you know Dario is innocent of all crimes but was sent to the Hague as a scapegoat by ther Tudjman government. I know Dario personally and he was against the war with the muslims but was forced to comply by Tudjamn and Susak. This is never mentioned by yourself or the media they just treat him like a criminal. Dario was put into an uncontrollable position which if not followed would've been costly for him and his family. What ever the decision Dario has lost regardless-he is in the Hague for something that he never ordered personally. Croats & Muslims can live happily like they once did if only there was an amnesty given to soldiers on both sides. If S. Africa can do it why can't Bosnia. I suppose we are the Balkans , thats why we will never learn..

James Mason		26-Feb-2007 03:03
Erichka is Canadian

BOJKO		25-Feb-2007 15:33
Erica> sto si ti po nacionalnosti?

Guest		23-Feb-2007 21:43
James Javi se. I wrote you a while back but you no write back. We need to discuss a book. Write me. Plavusha - Erica

hrvatski vitez iza konjic		08-Jan-2007 05:52
hvala hos

HOSovac		05-Jan-2007 13:53
hrvatski vitez iz konjic> go to www.topix.net/forum/world/croatia to discuss Croatian politics. James could you please not delete this until this message is recieved..Thanks

James Mason		28-Dec-2006 20:36
Right now I am busy with other things, like work. Also, it looks like I'll be doing a real website with a blog. So sit tight. But I don't have a lot more photos from the former Yugoslavia. James Mason

hrvatski vitez iza konjic		28-Dec-2006 02:48
james u are wasting this site for nothing put more photos on it

James Mason		12-Nov-2006 02:18
Thanks to Zabosnu for the correction. I'm doing this stuff out of my head, relying on 13-year-old memory. Any help with names, spellings, and places is appreciated. James Mason

Za Bosnu		11-Nov-2006 23:56
Zidar> the correct spelling is Col. Tihomir "BLASKIC".

Za Bosnu.......		03-Nov-2006 05:34
Svi " Cetnici " sto su htjeli, dio lijepe nase, pamtit ce vjecno -CRNOKOSULJASE. Zivjeli HOS-ovci 9 Bojna.....Hrvati-Bosnjaci.

Vesomir		02-Nov-2006 07:22
Dear viewers - Does anybody have infornmation on Operation " Mistral " Bosnia 1995 ?

James Mason		28-Oct-2006 20:23
Karl: Worth it for who?

Karl		26-Oct-2006 05:11
Zidar > Was " BOSNIA " worth it ?

Niksa Antunovac		16-Oct-2006 13:38
James - Being a member of HOS in 1991 and defending Slavonija from Cetnik attacks, we were exposed in the battle for Jasenovac. With ZNG & MUP pulling out from that region we were besieged for days. The only way we made it out was our sheer determination to stick together as a group and fight till the end. We made it back to Novska with many casualties. The Croats from Central Bosnia like the Bosniaks in the Bihac region were both under constant siege which lasted a number of years, which wasn't really mentioned on the nightly news. Anyway my point to all this is I have just viewed your site and find the images to be of a very true nature and perfectly represented. I would hope one day these photo's can be exhibited in Australia as the ordinary Australian only knows about the terror in Sarajevo and Srebrenica and not in Central Bosnia. People all over the world should see these photo's to educate them because this conflict in Central Bosnia should not have happend because Croats and Bosniaks go back a long way as allies. Central Bosnia deteriorated due to the fact that "Serbian Cetniks" drove Croats & Bosniaks from other area's of Bosnia and squeezed approximately 500.000 people into a the central pocket which could only hold half that number. Quote: From Djela Maric ( Travnik ): " If you had 25 people relatives, refugees etc living with you in your home, you to would get cranky" . meaning the bubble was always going to burst.

Guest		16-Oct-2006 07:43
Powerful images and some wonderful compositions. Thanks so much for sharing them.

Andrea Holman		06-Oct-2006 13:31
Bok James. absolutno obozavam vasu stranicu. ...rjetko tko zna istunu, i sta je bilo u tom ratu. Bas mi je drago da bar netkoga nije stid da kaze sta je bilo, i kako je bilo. ~Andrea

James Mason		04-Oct-2006 08:18
Dario, I deleted almost all of the comments. The only ones left are the ones I didn't get around to deleting. I got really sick of the arguing over the war and listening to the same dogshit I had to listen to when I was there. This is my site, I pay for it, and it's going to reflect my experience in the war, not that of some asshole who spent the war in Toronto or Sydney. James Mason Kotzebue, Alaska

Dario		04-Oct-2006 07:57
Zidar > Where the hell are the rest of the comments ?

sarajlija 4 ever		07-Oct-2004 14:34
Dear James, I am an ex soldier, from the Sarajevo First corps of the Bosnian Army. I ran into your photos accidentaly, but my interest in them was not accidental. I just wanted to express my deepest admiration and appreciation of your work. Your photos are as true and realistic, dynamic and brutal, as only real war photos can be. Thank you for being with us, thank you for being there to see IT for yourself. Thank you for telling the truth, for understanding the madness of an ideology that led us to where we are today... Bosnia is playing a soccer match on this Saturday, against Serbia and Montenegro. And it is sad, because I can still see they hate us more than ever. And I still don't understand why. Just like when they wanted to kill me because of my name, and I still didn't get it. I wish I could make them understand and see how insane, how foolish and how stupid they have been. I'm afraid they still are. I wish... but I can't. They still think WE started the whole fucking war, they still believe we shelled ourselved and killed our own children. They still say we bombed our own markets... I wish I could hate them, but I can't. There is too much brain matter left in my head, still enough sanity. I can't hate them for what they are, but I do hate them for what they did. Thank you once again for telling the world what happened in Bosnia. The same fucking world that didn't care while millions of us bled to death, but got all pissed off when 4000 people died in WTC. It's a shitty world, isn't it? We DO blled like the rest of the world, and we DO cry like the rest of the humanity. We DO suffer and feel pain and sorrow like the rest of the world does. And our children just want to play, too... But, then again, why am I telling you all this, you've been with us the whole time. You know it. Best regards, A soldier that forgives, but doesn't forget

puska6		31-Jul-2004 19:58
I'm from Bosnia and i was 9 and lived in zenica and busovaca at the time during the war. These pictures remind of the terrible things ive seen with my eyes.

eddy hertens		20-Apr-2004 23:17
Looking at these pictures has certainly brought back memories...some of them are amongst the best and some are amongst the worst in my life. I arrived at the airbase in Tuzla around 5 AM on Thursday 14th 1995 with a relief team from MSF and was greeted with a horrible sight. The survivors (almost only women, children and a few old men) from Srebrenica had arrived there the day before and were all sitting around looking completely shocked. Seeing thousands of people with emotionless faces, drained and exhausted really made a lasting impression on me. In the following weeks we tried to help them and the refugees from Zepa as much as we could. (there were very few life-threatening acute medical problems, but people needed shelter, food, water, day to day medical care but most of all some simple human attention). Together with a very dedicated and fantastic group of local people in Tuzla and Zenica I spent a truly amazing time there and seeing these pictures has again reminded me of them. War certainly brings out the worst in people, but fortunately sometimes also the best. Thank you.

Guest		21-Feb-2004 09:27
Very evocative, powerful images; I was struck by how similar your images were to Don McCullin's work in Cyprus and Beruit, but then it also occured to me that only time has changed.

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