Photographic Memory is a series dedicated to photographers and the poetry of life that inspires them and their creative processes.
I strolled through
the sunset into Sarajevo. Everything around me was new to my well-traveled eyes, but with each step my heart warmed with familiarity. Church bells rang out in harmony with the evening call to prayer from the mosques. I stopped. Overwhelmed by a strange sensation. I scanned the tiny streets winding up into the hillsides, each a wrinkle in an old man’s face, deepening with the changes of each complicated era, and yet becoming more handsome with age. Then, my eyes met the mountains. Capped with snow and speckled with sheep, I could already make out an invitation to leave the bustling city and bathe in their forests and streams. I stood as darkness blanketed the houses around me, tucking them into the ridges like fallen stars at rest. In that moment I recognized a growing determination inside me that here I would live, and here I would die, because here, for the first time, I found home.
Cat Norman Tahirovic is American photographer. She left a life of movement to settle in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and open The Doctor’s House boutique hostel. Follow her love affair with Sarajevo on Instagram.
1 of 10
![]()
The sun rises over Trebevic Mountain. December 2014
Cat Norman Tahirovic
2 of 10
![]()
Bridges from every era cross the Miljacka river that runs through the heart of the city. August 2013
Cat Norman Tahirovic
3 of 10
![]()
Times change but in old town Bašcaršija there will always been an old man drinking coffee. February 2014.
Cat Norman Tahirovic
4 of 10
![]()
Bjelašnica ski mountain a constant sentinel standing in the background of the city. January 2016.
Cat Norman Tahirovic
5 of 10
![]()
Cows take a rest from springtime grazing to view into Sarajevo from Skakavac nature area. May 2014.
Cat Norman Tahirovic
6 of 10
![]()
The symphonies of Sarajevo together as one on Pehlivanuša street: the music academy, Sarajevo Cathedral, and the many mosques at the distance. November 2014.
Cat Norman Tahirovic
7 of 10
![]()
The yellow fortress Žuta Tabija serves stage for a nightly sunset display. August 2013.
Cat Norman Tahirovic
8 of 10
![]()
Bijela Tabija stands solemnly waiting at the historic entrance to the city. November 2015.
Cat Norman Tahirovic
9 of 10
![]()
Sebilj and pigeon square blanketed in snow. January 2014.
Cat Norman Tahirovic
10 of 10
![]()
Full moon over Sarajevo. April 2014.
Cat Norman Tahirovic