Vesna Lalić, the photojournalist who documented Belgrade Pride for 15 years, has died

Serbian photojournalist Vesna Lalić has died after a short illness at the age of 53, the newsrooms she worked for announced on 17 October.

Born in Belgrade, she began in press photography at the Politika publishing house, later worked for the daily Blic and as a photojournalist for the weekly NIN, and joined the news portal Nova.rs when it was founded. Most recently she worked for Nova.rs, the daily Nova and the weekly Radar, all independent outlets.

Colleagues remember her as a photographer who was always on the scene, covering the most important social and political events in Serbia, but who also had a gift for finding a story in ordinary, everyday moments that others overlooked.

Fifteen years of Pride Week

Belgrade Pride, the organisation behind the city’s annual Pride march, paid tribute to her on Instagram. “Today we say goodbye to our dear Vesna, who for a full 15 years recorded every moment of every Pride Week and made sure that everything Belgrade Pride does was documented. She did it with great enthusiasm, empathy, patience and love,” the group wrote.

It said her photographs authentically showed the reality of the LGBTI+ community in Serbia, and remembered her as a byword for empathy, solidarity and readiness to help.

Funeral arrangements will be announced later.

Source: blic.rs, 021.rs. English adaptation: gay-serbia.com.