Modern Albania as it is

Photographer Jan Michalko commented: “Photos of ordinary Albanian life. I wanted to capture the mood of our time and the reality of everyday life. These pictures are dedicated, on the one hand, to people, and on the other hand, to the outside, to the urban environment. It shows the interaction between people and their environment at work, during leisure and in familiar, everyday activities. We see an aesthetic overlay of the socialist past on the new trends of Western influence, characterized by explosion, bright colors and spontaneous introduction of new technologies.”

(Total 24 photos)

Source: Miraprospekt.com

1. What is happening in Albania? In the past, a closed communist country with coasts hidden from the rest of the world for so long and an amazing alpine hinterland, today it still remains a mysterious place in the middle of the familiar old Europe.

2. Albania is a neighbor of Italy and Greece, but despite the fall of the Iron Curtain 20 years ago, it kept its secrets for quite some time.

3. Jan Michalko is one of six Berlin-based photographers who have regularly explored a little-known part of Europe for three years.

4. They immersed themselves in its unique and complex society, so influenced by the long period of Ottoman rule, the dictatorial grip of communism and the current joy of merging with modern Europe.

5. The idea of the project was to create a visual diary of a country that everyone knows by name, but whose lifestyle, people and dreams are just beginning to emerge.

6. Each of the photographers took their own unique approach to tell this story of discovery.

7. This long-term project would never have been so direct and documentary if it had not been for a less intriguing country than Albania.

8. In this selection, we offer you pictures of one of the photographers who participated in the project: Jan Michalko.

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