Early photography in Albania, 700 new pictures now online

TIRANA, June 10 – Featuring unique glimpses into Albania’s past, seven hundred new photographs of Albania dating from 1873 to 1952 have been made available online by Canadian Albanologist Robert Elsie. The photos featured on his personal website stem from thirteen different collections showcasing the costumes of Albania and the western Balkans presented at the Vienna World’s Fair in 1873; the private photo collection of the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II; a collection of the French consul in Shkodra, Alexandre Degrand, dating from the 1890s; photos of Albania, Montenegro and Macedonia in 1902-1912 taken by the German scholar and writer, Hugo Grothe; photos of a rare journey through Kosovo and northern Albania (Luma, Mirdita, Shkodra) in 1909 undertaken by the French travel writer, Gabriel Louis-Jaray. The rich collection also features photos taken in 1910 by the German journalist and publisher Ernst J夫h who accompanied the notorious Turkish General Shefket Torgut Pasha through Kosovo and the mountains of Mirdita; photos of Albania, Montenegro and the Sandjak taken by the Austro-Hungarian Field Marshal Otto von Gerstner in 1912; the photo collection of the Italian foreign minister, Marquis di San Giuliano, documenting the short reign of Prince Wilhelm zu Wied following Albanian independence (Durr쳠and Shkodra in 1914); the collection of the Albanian photographer Thimi Raci from Dardha in southeastern Albania (1918-1952); photos of the Austrian anthropologist and travel writer, Hugo Adolf Bernatzik (Albania in 1929); the photo collection of the Austrian writer Friedrich Wallisch (Albania in 1931); part of the photo collection of the German publisher Countess Marion D