Publisher: Historical Archives of Belgrade
For the Publishers: MA Dragan Gačić
Editors-in-Chief: Dragan Gačić
Editor: Slobodan Mandić
Consulting Editor: Ivan Obradović MA, Srđan Mićić PhD, Vladimir Dulović
Proofreading: Nataša Nikolić MA
Archival Material Processing Assistant: Dragana Mitrašinović
Digital photo processing and restoration: Bojan Kocev
Text layout and print preparation: Vladimir Mijatović
Cover design: Zorica Smilović
Printed by: Zlamen
Circulation: 500
For the Publishers: MA Dragan Gačić
Editors-in-Chief: Dragan Gačić
Editor: Slobodan Mandić
Consulting Editor: Ivan Obradović MA, Srđan Mićić PhD, Vladimir Dulović
Proofreading: Nataša Nikolić MA
Archival Material Processing Assistant: Dragana Mitrašinović
Digital photo processing and restoration: Bojan Kocev
Text layout and print preparation: Vladimir Mijatović
Cover design: Zorica Smilović
Printed by: Zlamen
Circulation: 500
Two primary motives prompted the preparation of a monograph containing photographs of Belgrade during the interwar period preserved within the personal collection of journalist, writer, publicist, and cultural figure Mihailo S. Petrović (1901–1949), which is kept in the Historical Archives of Belgrade.
Besides diverse archival material preserved in this fond, the photographs of Belgrade, mostly dating from the late 1920s and early 1930s, constitute a special collection that has not yet been adequately approached in research. They possess undoubted cognitive value and significance as a primary historical source regarding Belgrade's past, offering visual testimony to several of the most dynamic years of development—a period of reconstruction and of demographic, economic, and cultural development. Furthermore, they shed light on the historical evolution of photography in Serbia, particularly concerning photo journalism as a new photographic language that emerged in the late 1920s.
Another motive for creating this book was to introduce the general public to the interesting and multifaceted personality of Mihailo S. Petrović, as well as to his personal collection, which has been ranked as a cultural asset of great importance.
Another motive for creating this book was to introduce the general public to the interesting and multifaceted personality of Mihailo S. Petrović, as well as to his personal collection, which has been ranked as a cultural asset of great importance.
Among various photographic material preserved in this collection, priority has been given to the most extensive and significant body of work—photographs of Belgrade taken between the two world wars—which constitute an exceptionally valuable historical source. Many of these photographs are well-known to the public, while others have rarely—if ever—been used, despite serving as exceptional visual records of great significance for understanding the city's history during one of the most dynamic periods of its development. The era of Belgrade’s reconstruction and its demographic, economic, and cultural rise takes on a completely different meaning when, alongside written records, we uncover the facts and sometimes hidden details contained within the photographic material.
The book was published with the support of the Secretariat for Culture of the City of Belgrade.