18 June 2007
U.S. Photojournalist Documents Roma Life in the Slovak Republic
Julie Denesha hopes that work will help combat prejudice
Washington -- Life in a Slovak Roma community can be a stark contrast to the world in which the Roma’s neighbors live, separated not only by poverty, culture and prejudice, but also by the lack of basic services such as water supply and trash collection.
With a $12,000 grant from the State Department’s Fulbright Program, photojournalist Julie Denesha sought to document life in the Slovak Republic’s osadas, or Roma settlements, with an eye on changes since the country’s 2004 entrance into the European Union (EU). She had the larger goal of providing Slovaks and the wider world with a window into Roma life to raise their understanding of the minority community. Her photos will be featured at the U.S. Embassy in Bratislava beginning June 20.
The Romani people, or Roma, are an ethnic minority nearly 10 million strong who are found in communities all over the world, but principally in southern and eastern Europe. Historically, they often have been victims of persecution or discrimination.
Denesha told USINFO her interest in the Roma began while she worked in the region as a news and freelance photographer and felt press coverage of the Roma, though often in the news, was incomplete.
“I felt there was something we were missing. Most of the Slovak towns have the Slovak part and then there’s this Roma kind of ghetto close to the town or a little bit away from the town. And even though it’s part of the township it’s not really a part of the town,” she said.
In her first trips to Slovak osadas, she noticed the segregation as well as a lack of basic city services. “You’ll have a water pump or a well, but there’s just one pump, for example,” she said.
In 2003, on the eve of the country’s entrance into the EU, there was an expectation that greater attention would be paid to minorities such as the Roma. Denesha decided to spend four months in four separate osadas in 2003 to see what progress was being made and learn more about the community.
“I felt that was the only way I could see what life was really like there and to take pictures of daily life, just to live in villages with people and stay with a family, and so that’s how my project got started,” she said.
Denesha subsequently won a grant from the Fulbright Program in 2007, which provides opportunities to academic and potential leaders to observe each others’ political, economic, educational and cultural institutions, exchange ideas and to embark on joint ventures.
Thanks to the grant, Denesha was able to return to her 2003 work, with extended visits between March and June to Bystrany, Zborov and Cigelka – villages she chose because they seemed most likely to have changed as a result of Slovakia’s EU membership.
She found mixed results: Some Roma had taken advantage of work opportunities abroad and were sending money home to better their communities, and some EU-funded apartment complexes had been built, but she saw little progress on integrating the Roma with their neighbors.
Resentment has accompanied long-standing prejudice in some cases, where Slovaks, often facing similar employment prospects and economic challenges, see the Roma as benefiting from outside help, Denesha said. Demographics also have shifted as many young Slovaks leave the country for jobs and the Roma population continues to grow.
But despite centuries of living side by side, many Slovaks do not know their neighbors well, Denesha said.
“Obviously the Roma have to shop in Slovak stores and they have to learn the language, but you don’t find a lot of Slovaks going to Roma osadas,” she said. “I can’t really speak to why this interaction isn’t happening.”
Denesha aims to use her work to encourage dialogue and understanding between Slovaks and their Roma neighbors. She hopes those who view her photos will use them as an introduction to their next-door neighbors.
“All countries struggle with minority communities, and people in general tend to talk to people who share their same values and people who look like them. … It’s important to create a place where people can see what life is like for [the Roma] in a very unintimidating way,” she said.
Denesha hopes her work eventually will evolve into a book project or that she can use it to create prints and exhibits.
Along with featuring Denesha’s photographs, the U.S. Embassy in Bratislava, led by Ambassador Rodolphe "Skip" Vallee, has been reaching out to Slovakia’s Roma community through visits and events designed to promote Roma integration and awareness. Vallee hosted a June 12-13 football workshop in Roma communities and sponsored a program, Roma in Their Own Voice, on March 13 at the embassy that featured Roma artists, journalists, musicians and filmmakers.
Denesha’s 2003 photos of the Roma can be found at her Web site, which eventually will host her more recent work. Additional information is also available on the U.S. Embassy in Bratislava Web site.
More information about the Fulbright program is available on the State Department Web site.
(USINFO is produced by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
