On Saturday, March 9th, 2024, the third forum from the series “Pioneers in Culture” titled “Frame for the Picture” was held as part of the UNIGEM project. The guest was the renowned photographer Imrana Kapetanović, who has gained recognition for her projects with vulnerable groups, including women, people with disabilities, migrants, and others. The conversation was moderated by professor Adisa Bašić, PhD, who emphasized in the introduction that Imrana is an artist who manages to immortalize moments through her camera lens and discreetly capture images with a great deal of empathy. Additionally, as professor Bašić pointed out, Imrana is very modest despite having numerous solo and collective exhibitions to her name, both in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the region, and worldwide.
Imrana reminisced about her beginnings when she received her first award in 2001 and mentioned that she worked hard, invested in her education, and only after 15 years of work did she reach a level of professionalism with which she is satisfied. Imrana emphasized that in photography, one must constantly strive for improvement, and that this work is never finished. She enjoys working on documentary projects the most, such as the project with female workers in the Prevent factory, but she mentioned that she is increasingly less interested in doing portraits because people are becoming less willing to accept reality. Influenced by social media, they are dissatisfied with their appearance and photos, and then they try to retouch them in post-production, which affects the essence of the photograph itself.
We remind you that “Pioneers in Culture” is a series of forums conceived and moderated by professors from the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Sarajevo, Ajla Demiragić and Adisa Bašić. These forums are implemented as part of the UNIGEM project, which is implemented by the University Gender Resource Center (UNIGeRC) and the TPO Foundation.
Each forum is envisioned as an open conversation that allows for the exchange of experiences among female writers, visual artists, musicians, producers, and entrepreneurs in the field of culture. Through these discussions, we aim to empower both cultural workers and all participants of the forums. These meetings seek to contribute to the establishment of new solidary connections and collaborations among pioneers, as well as to valorize their achievements and improve their social status and visibility.
