‘You don’t need to know the history of Sarajevo to see symbiosis’: Magdalena Szurek’s best phone picture

For the photographer, these women embody the harmonious life of her dream destination'

Last year, Magdalena Szurek wanted to fulfil all the travel plans the pandemic had stalled, and she saw Sarajevo as her dream destination". I have family from Croatia," says Szurek, who lives in Poland. So I used to visit the Balkans every year, but only its coast. I'd heard a lot about Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina. It's a city that has experienced a lot of pain and sadness but today Muslims, Catholics, Orthodox Christians and Jews live side by side in harmony."

Szurek had just arrived and was looking for somewhere to stop for a coffee. There were two places next to each other, and these women were sitting on the steps outside a closed shop. I think they were waiting for a free table, too. Asking them to pose would have been against the rules of street photography. There was no opportunity to speak to them, but they smiled at me afterwards."