Photography-Republic of Albania

Pietro Marubbi, an Italian painter and photographer, settled in Albania during the second half of the 19^th century. After passing from South to North, he moved to Shkodër. In that period, the city was flourishing and becoming an important center thanks to economic and cultural exchanges.

In 1856, Pietro Marubbi founded the ‘’Photo-Studio Marubbi’’ introducing to the region the art of photography. Together with his students and assistants, he documented step by step moments of historical and social importance “bringing to light” images of people, landscapes, architecture, historical events and traditional elements.

One of his students, Kel Kodheli, followed the path of his master inheriting the studio and, also, his surname. The studio was continued by his son Gegë Kodheli (Marubi) who attended the school for cinematography and photography of the Lumière Brothers in France. It is worth mentioning that the three generations of photographers had the same desire to be contemporary and adapt to the time and the context from a socio-esthetic and technological point of view. Moreover, during all these years, many Marubbi’s students opened photography studios in Shkodër.

In 2016, the Marubi National Museum of Photography was established as an absolute need to identify and promote the photographic archive created by the Marubi Dynasty and other local photographers, having the legacy of the ‘’Photo-Studio Marubbi’’ at the center of the museum project. In 2017, the museum was among the finalists nominated for the European Museum of the Year Award.

If you would like to learn more, you can navigate through this online exhibition. An online archive is also available.

Sources: https://www.marubi.gov.al/

Photographs taken from: https://www.wikipedia.org/, https://albania.al/activity/culture/marubi-national-museum-of-photography/, https://www.archdaily.com/792221/marubi-national-museum-of-photography-casanova-plus-hernandez-architecten

Photograph No 1: Pietro Marubbi

Photographs No 2: Marubi National Museum of Photography

Photograph No 3: ‘’Catholic Woman’’, by Kel Marubi (1920)

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