Photographer Ana Batrićević & Nikola Drndarevic are the Edge of Humanity Magazine contributors of this documentary photography. From the project ‘PrisonLIFE ’. To see Ana & Nikola ’s body of work, click on any photograph.

Title: Safe Place
Author: Ana Batrićević
Place: District Prison, Belgrade, Serbia – library
Date: 11.12.2023.
Description: Prisoners are allowed to read books during their leisure time and many of them see it as a way to forget the difficulties of their everyday life. From classic novels, philosophy and religion, to contemporary bestsellers, these small escapes from reality are at their disposal for entertainment, self-reflection and personal growth.

Title: Moments of Tenderness
Author: Nikola Drndarević
Place: District Prison, Belgrade, Serbia – inner yard
Date: 20.12.2023.
Description: Interaction with animals provides a unique source of comfort and empathy, showing that it is possible to experience moments of softness and develop human-animal bonds even within the cruel reality of prison life. This unusual “inmate” is beloved and taken care of by other inmates, enriching their mutual connections.

Title: Daily Bread
Author: Nikola Drndarević
Place: District Prison, Belgrade, Serbia – kitchen
Date: 20.12.2024.
Description: Simple routines such as baking the bread, permeate almost every moment of daily life in prison. These activities foster serenity, calmness and a sense of structured order.

Title: Light of Faith
Author: Ana Batrićević
Place: District Prison, Belgrade, Serbia – Chapel of Christ’s Resurrection
Date: 11.12.2023.
Description: Rays of light embellishing the icons in the Chapel of Christ’s Resurrection remind us of faith as a perpetual source of hope. It gently whispers that the return to the right path is always possible for all those who opens their hearts for repentance and a new beginning in love, faith and hope.

These photographs were made in District Prison in Belgrade Serbia in 2023 and 2024, within the PrisonLIFE project, which is designed to help us identify and understand the most significant factors and aspects of quality of life in prisons in Serbia, and to create prospects for its measurement, monitoring, and improvement. PrisonLIFE is a complex and multidisciplinary project, joining the experts from the field of psychology, penology, criminology, special education and rehabilitation etc. with the purpose of improving the quality of life of convicted people and, hence, increasing their chances of successful resocialization and social reintegration. The photographs were presented at an exhibition in Belgrade, Serbia on October 1st, 2024. The PrisonLIFE project is supported by the Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia, Grant No. 7750249, Project title: Assessment and possibilities for improving the quality of prison life of prisoners in the Republic of Serbia: Criminological-penological, psychological, sociological, legal and security aspects.

Title: Haircut
Author: Ana Batrićević
Place: District Prison, Belgrade, Serbia – inner yard
Date: 23.02.2024.
Description: Inmates trimming each other’s hair in prison’s inner yard during leisure time – a very personal moment and an act of mutual friendship and trust.

Title: Escape into Words
Author: Nikola Drndarević
Place: District Prison, Belgrade, Serbia – library
Date: 11.12.2023.
Description: Reading gives the prisoners a moment of quietness and introspection, a chance to separate their thoughts from the reality of prison walls. The books become the space for inner escape, allowing the inmates to travel and meet the freedom that goes beyond the physical borders.

Title: Christmas in Prison
Author: Nikola Drndarević
Place: District Prison, Belgrade, Serbia – hall
Date: 20.12.2023.
Description: The time of the year when bits of joy seep inside the prison walls, when family members’ visits are in the spirit of holidays.

Title: Inner Yard Mural
Author: Nikola Drndarević
Place: District Prison, Belgrade, Serbia – inner yard
Date: 11.12.2023.
Description: Until recently, the walls of District Prison’s inner yard were grey and bleak. A couple of years ago professional muralists imbued the life into this surrounding by painting them according to the sketches made by the inmates within an artistic and socially engaged project.

Ana Batrićević

Ana is a Principal Research Fellow at the Institute of Criminological and Sociological Research in Belgrade and a photographer. Her research focuses on the resocialization of convicted persons, especially through work with animals and the protection of human rights, animals and the environment. As a member of the Photo Association of Serbia and Belgrade Photo Club, she complements her research with documentary photography whenever it is applicable. She participated in the PrisonLIFE project in researching various segments of the quality of prison life. So far, she has had several solo exhibitions and participated in a number of domestic and international exhibitions with awarded photographs. Her photographs have been published in printed and electronic media. She is currently leading a photovoice project “Pink Frame”, dedicated to the life of women who have experienced and are recovering from breast cancer.

Nikola Drndarević

Research associate at the Institute of Criminological and Sociological Research in Belgrade, focused on personality psychology and psychotherapy, especially externalizing and internalizing disorders. Within the PrisonLIFE project, he actively participated in designing semi-structured protocols and interviews and conducting focus groups with vulnerable populations. He worked on the cultural adaptation of instruments for measuring the quality of prison life, as well as on the evaluation of their psychometric characteristics. Within the project, he investigated the relationship between psychopathy and the quality of life in prisons. He sees documentary photography as a way to complement the research about daily life in prison.

All images and text © Ana Batrićević & Nikola Drndarevic