Heritage
My grandfather's camera
Before I ever held a camera, my grandfather had spent decades behind one. This page is for him and for the photographs he left us. (Placeholder text: edit it with the Edit button.)
The grandfather
- 01
Belgrade, the 1950s
My grandfather started photographing professionally in the 1950s. Write here how he began, which camera he used and what he photographed.
- 02
The studio and the darkroom
Through the 1960s and 70s he worked on film and printed his own pictures. Describe the studio, the darkroom and the people who came in front of his lens.
- 03
What he passed on
Light, patience and respect for the people in the frame. Write what you learned from him and what you still carry into every session.
Timeline
From the 1950s to today
1950s
Backdrops and children
Placeholder: babies and small children posed before fields, kilims and painted backdrops.
1958
First camera
My grandfather buys his first camera in Belgrade.
1960s
Studio years
A studio, a darkroom and two decades of portraits on film.
1965
The darkroom
Placeholder: evenings of developing and printing by hand.
1975
The archive
Placeholder: boxes of negatives and prints, kept through the 1970s and 80s.
2005
The grandson picks up a camera
Placeholder: my first camera, and his prints on the wall.
2015
Fashion and beauty
Placeholder: editorial, fashion and beauty work.
2024
Film and black and white
Placeholder: old cameras and B&W film, alongside modern work.
Today
Alexander Mils
The third generation behind the lens, photographing Belgrade.
The backdrops
Small children, grand backdrops
Most of his clients were babies and small children, posed in front of whatever made the picture: a field, a kilim hung on the wall, a large painted or plain backdrop. The same idea as a studio backdrop today, built by hand.
Objects on the desk
What he worked with
I restaged his self-portraits from above, with the things that sat on his desk. Hover or tap each object.
In motion
The same light, sixty years apart
Then and now
His frame, my frame
Drag to compare. I still shoot with old cameras and in black and white; the rest is today's craft.
Add a "now" photograph in the editor to enable the comparison.
“Light, patience, and respect for the person in front of the lens. That is what he left me.”
Alexander Mils
The craft continues
Today I photograph couples, families and travellers across Belgrade, with the same care he taught me. (Placeholder text.)
See the portfolio