OCR
Social Differentiation and Construction of Elites in Belgrade Studio Photography vest with embroidery (zwbun), an apron, and a long skirt. Her hair is down, which suggests an unmarried status: women covered their hair once they were married. Other examples are two portraits by Milan Jovanovic, which today are part of a bigger collection of ethnographic photographs in the Ethnographic Museum of Belgrade. On the backs, these photos are labeled according to the costumes shown, which are presented by the “models.” Illustration 53 shows a young man or a boy in “Vlach folk costume.”"® He is wearing a shirt made of hemp linen and white braid-decorated trousers made of cloth. A woolen woven belt is worn around the waist and he is wearing the traditional peasant leather sandals, opanci, on his feet. His head is covered with a fur cap made of sheeps’ wool. The boy is photographed against a background decorated with branches and leaves and is resting his arm on a wooden fence. The whole composition depicts an outdoor setting. Similarly the focus of the portrait of the young woman in illustration 52 is the costume worn in a specific part of Serbia rather than the girl herself. The background and props too give the impression of the outdoors. The ground is covered with hay. Behind the girl, parts of a brick wall covered with roof shingles and of a stone bench are depicted. The brick wall continues into a metal garden door opening the view to a lake in the background. Her hair is covered with a fes and a kerchief called samija. Her costume consists ofa white shirt covered by an embroidered jelek, a long skirt, and a pregaca. The above discussed photographs of the Serbian upper classes dressed in idealized traditional rural clothes are examples of “exotic” or rather “unusual” portraiture that I have found in Milan Jovanovid's collections or in the preserved family albums comprising his photographs. That is not to say that Milan Jovanovic has not done other or maybe even more “exotic” portraits. And he certainly has—as one of the photographers of the Royal Serbian Theatre. He has portrayed many actors and actresses in their roles, which often were based on exotic conceptions such as the “cruel Turk” versus the “heroic Serb liberation fighter,” as in the historic plays Duke Ivo from Semberija,” Hajduk Veljko,’® Stefan Nemanja,” or Milos Obili¢ (Battle of 18 The Vlachs are an ethnic minority living in the northeastern parts of Serbia (Timok valley, Morava valley, Mlava valley, Pek valley, and Negotinska Krajina) who speak Romanian dialects with many Serbian loanwords. Initially the term “Vlach” or “Wallache” was used as an exonym for Latin-speaking communities. It has undergone changes and today is used in different parts of the Balkans either as an exonym or an endonym (see Djordjevié 2007). 1° Duke Ivo from Semberia is the main character of a tragedy written by Serbian playwright Branislav Nusie (1864-1938). Nusie’s play is based on the historic figure Ivan Knezevi&, who was a Serbian revolutionary and village elder in the Bijeljina nahiyah (Bijelina subdistrict, today part of Republika Srpska in Bosnia-Herzegovina) around 1806. 20 Hajduk Veljko is a play written by Jovan Dragasevié (1836-1915) and entitled “Boj wa Heroruny, nm Cmpr Ajıyk-BeJpkopa : apama y Tpu xejcrBa” (The Battle at Negotin or the Death of Hajduk Veljko: a drama in three acts) which was based on the historical figure of Hajduk Veljko, who was one of the military commanders of the Serbian revolutionary forces in the first Serbian uprising against the Or toman Empire (1804-1813). ?! Stefan Nemanja (-1113-1199) was the grand prince of the Grand Principality of Serbia (Rascia) 151