Albania: Living in Oblivion

The Portrait series shows generations in Albania who i met during my travels. Albania is a country in oblivion in the middle of Europe and yet not really visible. The people there feel excluded from nearly everything. Their live is tough and with just a little hope for it getting better. But still they have a proudness and clarity directly connected to their human core and personality. They stand by themselfs, no matter what happens. While meeting people in the mountains, at bus stations or at the Adriatic Coast, you feel that this country is tough. In fact, the last 100 years were tough. If someone here looks at you, he fixes you with his eyes as if he could read you. Colonized by Itlay, occupied by Germans and ruled by dictator Enver Hoxha, who isolated the country for 40 years. Afterwards turbo capitalism led to a pyramide game loss of all banksavings and then to gang wars. People were leaving in thousands on crowded ship to Italy or through the mountains to Greece. You feel every scarf, in the people and the cities.