In a recent interview with Tirana Times, Swiss photographer Hans Peter Jost discusses his decades-long relationship with Albania.
By: Anastasia Nazarko
Born in Zurich, Switzerland, Hans Peter Jost has made a name for himself in the world of photography. Now based in Borgo Pace, Italy, the freelance photo journalist finds great inspiration in people and their social environmentسomething exhibited even in the early stages of his career.
“I started working as a street photographer on a Greek island at the age of 24,” he remembers. “I stayed there for two seasons, taking pictures of the tourists as they came to visit the temple on the island.”
Following his stint in Greece, Mr. Jost returned to Switzerland where took his interest in the elements of social environment further. He joined Arbeiter Fotografen, a group of politically active photographers, and soon began working for various magazines and newspapers.
Yet, it was not his work as a photo journalist that first brought the Swiss photographer in contact with Albania. In fact, when asked about the origins of his interest in the small Balkan country, Mr. Jost noted that he has been paying attention to Albania since the age of fifteen, thanks to the availability of Radio Tirana in German, which he frequently listend to.
“At first, I believed the propaganda I heard on Radio Tirana; however, after a while I realized that things weren’t as they seemed in Albania,” he recalls.
This curiosity for the isolated Balkan country stayed with Mr. Jost until he was finally able to visit it himself following the fall of communism, and was struck by the people, the transition with which they were faced, and often even the irony he found within that environment. In fact, it was this experience and the images he captured that resulted in Mr. Jost’s recent project, Albania in Transitionطhich captures Albania’s transformation with images captured over a period of twenty years.
“Honestly, when I arrived in 1991 in Albania, I never imagined that I would make a book about the countryŠbut when I came back to the country again after twelve years of absence, I was really struck by how it had changed in comparison to my photos from the 90s. It was a strange situation,” Mr. Jost remembers.
Indeed, it is the dramatic transformation of Albaniaسome of which is negativeנthat is illustrated in Albania in Transition. As Fatos Lubonja, a former Albanian political prisoner who wrote the introduction for the book, described, “[Hans Peter Jost] does not allow us to wallow long in nostalgia, does not just satisfy our curiosity about history but confronts us with the reality that we have created in the last 20 years.”
In fact, Mr. Jost’s often critical photographic commentary on Albania’s transition has resulted in some resistance from Albanians. Though the overall feedback has been positive, there have also been those who prefer not to be faced with the reality their country has seen.
“Some people don’t want to remember the past, they want to foregt it soon, even though it is part of Albania’s history. Others have thought the depiction is too critical. It is a pity that even shops at the airport and some bookshops in downtown Tirana are not interested in selling the book. Perhaps even for them it is too critical?”
Though, the Swiss photographer does not mind the critisicm or senstivity sparked by his new book, he wishes Albanians would feel pride, rather than shame, for their heritage. After all, the small Balkan country and its people have shared a tumultous history, from which they have the oppotrunity to emerge as a stronger entity with a future in Europe. To this end, Mr. Jost, in spite of his critical imagery, believes Albania has much to offerشhough it is up to Albanians to recognize their potential themselves. This point can even be applied to elements as basic as promotion of Albanian products
“It would be nice to be able to buy a Tirana or Korca beer at the Tirana airport,” notes Mr. Jost. “Why should they only offer foreign beers?”
Perhaps, if the Swiss photographer returns to Albania in another twelve years he will find another transition worthy of documentingبopefully, however, a more positive one.
