The Strange Beauty of Spomenik

If you appreciate odd architecture from another era and another place, Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union are filled with war monuments that always leave an impression. Belgian photographer Jan Kempenaers visited the striking Tito-era war monuments that dot the former Yugoslavia and has published his work in a new book, Spomenik. The monument that’s featured in this photo is from Krusevo. More info on the Kempenaers book at romapublications.org. A commentary on the photos was recently posted at foto8.

Author: Peter Maass

I was born and raised in Los Angeles. In 1983, after graduating from the University of California at Berkeley, I went to Brussels as a copy editor for The Wall Street Journal/Europe. I left the Journal in 1985 to write for The New York Times and The International Herald Tribune, covering NATO and the European Union. In 1987 I moved to Seoul, South Korea, where I wrote primarily for The Washington Post. After three years in Asia I moved to Budapest to cover Eastern Europe and the Balkans. I spent most of 1992 and 1993 covering the war in Bosnia for the Post.