Dea Botica is from the island of Korcula, not far from Dubrovnik. Currently she’s studying the undergraduate course in Cinematography in Zagreb, with plans to continue her education with the MA Photography course. When you first meet Dea you may get the impression of a shy girl but you would have good reason to also find her extremely interesting – for she has a remarkably creative mind. (I should know because I have the pleasure of being at the Academy with her). She says that she loves exploring different areas of photography, but her great interest is in social documentary photography.
Dea decided to explore something that will interest many of us, especially those who have shared aspects of her experience. She has called her photography series ‘Wild Nature? Or Wild Man?’ The summer of 2015 was disastrous for many pine forests around our Croatian coast. In the Dubrovnik-Neretva area approximately 3500 hectares of land were completely destroyed by fire. The careless actions of us humans, failing to appreciate what mother nature has given us and taking it for granted, resulted in long-term damage to our natural resources. We are destroying our planet, wiping out something that we not only can enjoy but on which we actually depend for our existence.
Today, almost a year later and far from the public eye, small shoots of greenery are breaking through the layer of black ash and reaching up to the fresh air. A few days ago we opened our annual photography exhibition ‘New Names’ at the Ulupuh gallery in Zagreb, where all students studying Cinematography and Photography show work they have created during the academic year.
“A few weeks ago we opened our annual photography exhibition New Names at
the Ulupuh gallery in Zagreb, where all students studying Cinematography and
Photography showcased their work created through the academic year”, says Dea.
If you were in the area, I hope you checked it out and saw Deas work as well as
our peers and mine. The exhibition is now over, but if you are interested to see
more, check out her webpage.
