Stefan Pavić - The VII Foundation

Stefan Pavić is a documentary photographer and videographer from Serbia. His professional career began in 2018 at a multilingual news portal called FAR, focusing on the Bulgarian minority in Serbia and the surrounding region. His portfolio includes historical and cultural documentary series and movies as well as reportages. Pavić has collaborated with various NGOs, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, BIRN Serbia, Serbian National Television, the Bulgarian News Agency, and the Bulgarian Consulate in Serbia. His personal work centers on long-term documentary projects that explore his community, the dynamics within it, and the connections among places, landscapes, and people. Through a deeply intimate engagement with his subjects, Pavić produces work that is both poetic and impactful. Pavić’s work is featured in private collections and on book covers. He has showcased his work in both solo and group exhibitions domestically and internationally. His accolades include the Award for Best Movie “Big Hearts in Small People” at the International Movie Festival “Arlekin” in Varna, Bulgaria. In 2019, he secured third place in a photo contest organized by the Museum of Ponišavlje in Pirot. He was also a finalist in the 24th National Competition “Press Photo Serbia 2022” for the best photos in local media and won the first award for the Best Local Project at the Belgrade Photo Month Festival. Pavić has participated in various photo and video seminars, including the BBC School for Video Journalism, the Magnum Inside Out Workshop in Tirana, the Foundry Photojournalism 2021 workshop organized by VII Academy and Photowings, and is part of the third generation of students at the Sarajevo Seminar for Documentary and Narrative Practice. Additionally, he is a member of the Kamerades Photo Collective.

Last Residents

This series addresses depopulation and neglect in rural southeastern Serbia, focusing on the disappearing farming communities in the villages of Gornji Visok, close to Dimitrovgrad. Sharing a personal connection to the region, the photographer documents the life and tradition slowly disappearing, shedding light on depopulation and social problems in these rural areas.

A shepherd tends to a Karakachan flock of sheep, a rare and ancient breed, above Dimitrovgrad, Serbia, in March 2022. Once a common sight in this livestock region, such scenes have become rare due to the mass sale of animals and urban migration during industrialization. © Stefan Pavić

Persida takes an afternoon walk to visit her friend Evdokija in the village of Planinica, Dimitrovgrad, Serbia, in September 2022. They are the only residents of this remote village. © Stefan Pavić

The last flock of sheep in the village of Borovo, Serbia, in April 2022. Located in the southern part of the municipality, Borovo once had a large state-owned sheep farm. During privatization in the early 2000s, the farm was sold and went bankrupt, reducing the sheep population from 5,000 to only a few dozen. © Stefan Pavić

An aerial view of the village of Kamenica on Stara Planina Mountain, Serbia, in June 2024. © Stefan Pavić

Staniško poses for a portrait in front of his house in the hamlet of Zajednica, village of Trnski Odorovci, Serbia, in August 2021. Trnski Odorovci, the largest village in the municipality of Dimitrovgrad, consists of 20 hamlets, each several kilometers apart. The most isolated one, Zajednica, is at the highest altitude and has only three residents left. © Stefan Pavić

Dragoljub poses for a portrait in the center of Petrlaš village, Serbia, March 2022. He is one of the five remaining permanent residents. © Stefan Pavić

Evdokija cleans her yard by burning grass and thorn bushes in Planinica, Serbia, in February 2022. She and Persida are the last residents in the village. © Stefan Pavić

Vukašin milks a cow in the village of Izatovci on Stara Planina Mountain, Serbia, in September 2022. © Stefan Pavić

Mother Melanija tends to the garden in the field above the village of Senokos, Serbia, in June 2024. During the 1950s and 1960s, the village exported its famous kashkaval cheese even to America. At that time, this part of the municipality had 10,000 sheep. Today, there are no animals left in the village of only a dozen remaining residents. © Stefan Pavić

Darko gathers hay in the village of Borovo, Serbia, in July 2024. He, his wife, and his brother are the last residents in the village. © Stefan Pavić

Najden, one of the last permanent residents of the village of Paskašija, Serbia, walks to the marketplace in town every Friday to buy food, groceries, and other necessities, in January 2022. With no means of transport to the village, the winter road conditions can make the trip last more than five hours. Paskašija is located in the northwest part of the municipality. According to the first census since Ottoman rule in 1880, the village had 30 inhabitants; in 1948, it had 230 inhabitants, and by the last census in 2011, the village had only six residents. When the border between Bulgaria and Serbia was established, the village was divided into two parts: the western part became Milojkovac in Serbia, while the eastern part retained its old name in Bulgaria. © Stefan Pavić

The funeral of Dimitar, the last resident of the village of Braćevci in the Stara Planina mountain, Serbia, March 2022. © Stefan Pavić

Thanks to professionals from The VII Academy and guests from the Foundry Workshop, I learned a lot, not only about photography, but most importantly about myself.

Stefan Pavić

Interview

What was your inspiration, process, and research?

I wanted to document a disappearing farming community. My inspiration came from observing people who feel stuck in time and sometimes forgotten by the municipality and the state. I wanted to give them a voice by meeting them in person and asking about their lives.

What do you hope to achieve with this project?

I want to create a book to show viewers that life once existed here. With younger generations losing interest in village life, I fear that everything captured in these pictures will soon disappear.

Were you able to apply what you learned at VII Academy/Foundry Photojournalism Workshop to this project, and if so, how?

Thanks to professionals from The VII Academy and guests from the Foundry Workshop, I learned a lot, not only about photography, but most importantly about myself. Through editing sessions and hearing them speak about their work, I implemented their techniques, and I’ve noticed an improvement in my own work since joining the VII community. The people from the academy are very generous and genuinely care about their students.