– 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. It is 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.
