Portrait assignment for @revistapiaui

Portrait of Brazilian hacker, Patrick, who is based in Serbia, December 2022.

In Zoran Vojinovic’s
living room is an Orthodox altar. He thought for a long time that he
should be a priest. Right up until he met his current wife, he says.

Our
last stop is the village of Krivelj – an area of just under 100 square
kilometers with just over a thousand inhabitants. The southern part of
the village surrounds another of Zijin Mining’s mines, Veliki Krivelj,
which is approximately 15 minutes’ drive from Bor. In front of the mine,
65-year-old Zoran Vojinovic lives with his wife.

Next to the
white house stands a red brick house with half the roof missing - as a
result of the explosions from the mine, says Vojinovic. We take a seat
at the home’s dining table, which can only be accommodated exactly in
the dining room with the mosaic wallpaper on the walls. On his phone,
Zoran Vojinovic shows us pictures of the local river, which the village
uses, among other things, to irrigate fields and quench the thirst of
livestock. The water is charcoal grey.

Zijin Mining has, he
claims, offered people in the area 230 dinars per square meter of
property. But at a local meeting, the villagers have agreed that no one
will sell anything until Zoran Vojinovic and his wife have landed a
better deal. Otherwise, they fear, the mining company will simply work
around Vojinovic’s property.