Publikation im Magazin Fotopasion, Albanien, September 2011.
Albania 1994
My visit to Albania in 1994 seemed to me a brave move. The TV images of the tumults around the collapse of the old regime were still fresh, and no one would have told me to travel to this country. In retrospective, my photographs fail to break out of the clichés the West had about Albania. They reflect the view of a very young Swiss traveler, somewhat fascinated by the remains of a communist society. The picture of the old bus from my home-town Zurich, now serving in Albania, very strongly spoke about my feelings at that time.
I traveled with a group of Christian missionaries, that worked in the country. This was a unique opportunity to see Tirana, Durres, Fier and Kruje. I was invited by Albanian families to eat and stay with them. This is how the portrait of the woman in Tirana became possible – one of my very rare portraits, yet one I will never forget.
On a technical note: I've used black and white film (ISO400) in a Nikon F-301 with a 24mm lens for most of the shots. The images shown here have been scanned from the negatives.
The fact that my photographs now, 17 years later, are shown in this Albanian photo magazine is incredibly rewarding to me. I appreciated the interest in my work and I am glad I've chosen early in my life photography as a language to communicate my vision of the world.