Personal impressions and faces from the Balkan.
Mithat Nallbani normally lives in Peja, Kosovo and work as a dental technician. He created his own island, called Hotel Relakx, in the valley of Rugova. He goes there almost everyday. He was an alcohol addict for many years. After quitting his addictions, he needed a place to relax and do something useful by his own. He moves huge rocks and build strange monuments. He also plays basketball on the island, and does trainings to keep himself fresh.
He is a big fun of the culture of USA.
The valley of Rugova, Kosovo, 2017
Locals know well Mithat and his hobby. They usually visit him on the island.
Real dirt on Mithat's hand. Sometimes he works for hours to finish his "artpieces".
Mithat needs to reorganize reguralry the big rocks around the island, otherwise the water might flow in, and destroy everything.
If the weather is nice, Mithat has 3 training during the day. This comes from his commitment to the USA. His goal is to break his record every day, and make himself fit.
Theth, Albania, 2017
Mio, pensioner, and holiday house owner in Ada Bojana, Montenegro, 2017.
Mio is fishing at night.
Rijeka Crnojevića, Montenegro, 2017
Dodosi, Montenegro, 2017
Dodosi, Montenegro, 2017
Albanian side of Shkodra lake
Shkoder, Albania, 2017
As part of the country’s ‘Bunkerisation Project’ between 1967–1986, bunkers were built all over the city, supposedly to protect the people living there. They were mostly used for fear, though, to show the people that there was always an enemy ready to attack, and ultimately they were all abandoned during the end of the Communist rule.
Keq Marku, is a tattoo artist working in a bunker close to Koplik, Albania.
Son of Keq Marku
Koplik, Albania, 2017
Keq, after living in a few different countries and learning how to tattoo in prison, bought some land that just happened to have a bunker on it. Rather than tearing it down or sold for scrap, Keq created a little tattoo shop inside of it, that he now works in.
Malesori = mountain people
Jakim Bakule is simply a legend in his village Pestani, Macedonia. He was the former captain of the Macedonian football team, and he played for the Yugoslavian team, and also lived in Canada and Sweden. After retirement from football he moved back to the coast of Lake Ohrid, where he was born. Everyone loves him, however, he suffers because of his wife's terminal desease. He collects veteran Citroens.
Marcela is an 11 years old Albanian girl. She lives with his family in Shkodra. She usually spends summers in Theth which is a very isolated village in the Albanian Alps.
His father, Sokol has the oldest tower in the village that attracts many tourist. In the summertime, Marcela helps her family by speaking in english with tourist and guiding them.