As part of the fifth edition of the Shimanovci Photo Safari — a one-day photography event held on September 7, 2025, in the Municipality of Pećinci, Serbia — the audience had the opportunity to experience the exhibition “People of Benin” by Vladimir Jovanovski, member of Photo Club Kumanovo.
The exhibition, set in the traditional heritage house in Shimanovci, presents a visual documentary collection from the author’s journey through the Republic of Benin — a small yet culturally rich country on the West African coast.
Through a series of black-and-white and color photographs, Jovanovski captures moments of everyday life: faces at markets in Cotonou, villages with mud-brick homes, people traveling by bicycles and motorcycles, sacred rituals under ancient trees, and children playing joyfully in the streets. But this exhibition is not merely a travelogue — it is a sociological and anthropological study, told through the language of photography.
Benin is known as the birthplace of the Voodoo religion and the historic Kingdom of Dahomey. Today, its people carry a proud cultural heritage while facing the challenges of modern life. This tension between the traditional and the contemporary, the ritual and the real, the cultural and the everyday, is precisely what the exhibition captures.
“People of Benin” does not exoticize its subjects. Instead, the photographs are composed with deep respect for the dignity of the people and their environment, presented without sensationalism — with warmth, silence, and careful attention to detail.
The exhibition remains an important part of the Shimanovci Photo Safari program, and Photo Club Kumanovo is proud to contribute to cultural connections that not only enrich photographic language but also build bridges between different worlds.
