Split - The Living Palace

Split is a fascinating anomaly: a Roman imperial palace that became a living city. In this street photography series, I explored this friction between the solemnity of thousand-year-old stone and the triviality of everyday life. Here, history is not visited, it is inhabited. I was captivated by this layering of eras, where laundry dries between ancient columns.

Roman bell tower of the cathedral seen from below in bright backlight, Split — Split

The intimacy of marble.

The alleys of Diocletian's Palace are narrow and cool. Light enters in fragments, illuminating scenes of domestic life that seem never to have changed. I photographed the residents in their everyday gestures, blended into this monumental setting as if it were a simple working-class neighborhood.

Bouquet of pink and purple flowers in front of an iron gate, Split — Split

The breath of the Adriatic.

As soon as you step out of the palace, the city opens onto the sea and the Riva. The contrast is total: you go from confined shadow to the brightness of the horizon. I captured this transition, this necessary breath that gives Split its unique rhythm, between historical interiority and maritime openness.

Lively terrace with red chairs beneath wall-mounted air conditioners, Split — Split

A place to live, not a museum.

This series is a testimony to continuity. In Split, I saw that beauty is not a museum piece, but a way of life that people make their own every day, with simplicity.

Young woman sitting on a low wall near the Roman arcades, Split — Split