– a loss of collective memory
It was always in my mind, like a fixed idea, dedicating a series of photographs to the destructive phenomenon of collective memory loss in Albania. To me, it seems as the people are quickly forgetting their past, focusing exclusively on dealing with immediate needs of present and future. A kind of mental state where the past is erased daily, consciously or unconsciously, and where only the present/future are paramount. I find myself witnessing all this and fearing the uncertain times which await ahead.
One can easily notice that this type of memory loss is occurring rapidly in every social sphere. Of course, the most visible sign of it is the erasure of historic sites and urban spaces all over the country. In the name of
modernizing cities and “bettering” them to face the necessities of the 21st
century, the old traditional buildings, houses or well-known landmarks are being put
down, redesigning in this way the whole picture in the eyes of the beholders.
Addresses are not the same anymore and the once characteristic city spots are forever gone, substituted by more skyscrapers or other “revitalizing” buildings which are obsolete for the people.
The society where we are living in now, is a society of "ish", which in English is translated "ex" or "what once was". Our sporadic appointments are set in places that do not exist anymore, like "ish teatri", "ish kinemaja" or "ish galeria", etc. I find it hard to comprehend how fast this destruction is taking place and with what catastrophic consequences for the new generations. They will never know what used to be before them. What they will
see, will be a view of modern falsity, without any particular meaning or
connection with the previous generations and their traditions. A kind of memory
reset, a loss of substance in making sense out of the world that we live in.
In Albania, the trauma of destroying and erasing what was already built, has ancient roots, and can also be traced in the people's mythology . The Rozafa legend for example is the perfect metaphor for what is really going on in these modern times.
Communism and its devastating ideology brought colossal damage and transformation in the lives of the people. Everything related to the past was "re-evaluated" and "revalued", introducing
the idea of the revolutionary new human, ready to obey without questioning whatever
the party would order. Thus, they destroyed churches and mosques, eradicated entire
landscapes, put down traditional neighborhoods and buildings; changing the people's memories through extreme propaganda.
It continued with “democracy”, where they started to destroy
and erase whatever good was made in time of communism. It soon had disastrous
consequences and created a political, economic and cultural collapse which
brought the turmoil of 1997.
This memory cleansing process still continues nowadays, where everything of substantial value is torn down while dubious investments keep flourishing instead. These drastic changes and dramatic losses are more visible in the
urban reality but the same effect is to be found in every other social aspect
including: history, culture, art, nature, education, language, communication,
crafts, human relationships, etc.
In realizing this project, I did not want to fall under
clichés of photographing just old rotten or demolished buildings around cities. Mostly, I wanted to bring something about the people and the traumatic effects of this destructive process upon them.
All the people that I photographed are wonderful humans and I am greatly thankful to all of them. Most of them got a printed copy of their picture. It's the least I could do to thank them for gracefully allowing me to annoy them.
Challenges & achievements
The project was entirely photographed in film and it was quite challenging to put it all together (shoot, develop, scan, edit) in just 7 days. I shot 9 films all in all, and used 2 cameras, a 35mm and a medium format one. I am very thankful to - The Tirana Project workshop and especially to the wonderful photographer, Jens Schwarz, who led me and the other participants in becoming better documentary photographers.
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