Mihane Cerroviku kindly invited myself and my friend Luli, into her home for a talk and drink of juice. We listened as she explained the difficult situation under which she now lives. Her daughter’s husband had recently passed away leaving the rest of the family of five to survive on €40 per month- an impossible task. From what I understand, this kind of financial reality is not uncommon to many living in the now broken city of Trepca, a once thriving centre built around the Trepca mine. The mine continues to operate but only as a shadow of its former self, mainly owing to complex politics and Kosovo’s understandable lack of resources. Ever since visiting for the day I’ve been drawn to learn more about this community which seems, on the surface at least, to embody many of the challenges facing the nation as a whole.
From June 16 to the 29th I was in Kosovo attempting a self-funded project. Within about a week of arriving however, it became apparent that the set of circumstances (relating to the rule of law) that I had been expecting did not exist as such. Long story short: the trip defaulted to reconnaissance for a possible future return. In the process I made some pictures, pictures that don’t amount to much more than a travelogue. But the act of making them left me with some incredible encounters- such as the one above- that as a whole, demonstrated to me the resilience, optimism, and beauty of the Albanian people who persevere in the face of a tragic past and continued uncertainty.
