TIRANA, Feb. 17 – A collection of more than 2,000 photographic documents by the Tirana-based Kallfa photographers has been donated to the Marubi studio in the northern Albanian city of Shkodra which houses the golden age of the Albanian photography.
The collection contains some 2,280 film negatives and picture positives as well as several old cameras.
Speaking at a donation ceremony this week, Culture Minister Mirela Kumbaro thanked the Kallfa family for the generous donation to the Marubi studio which enriches its collection after 45 years and invited other photographers to make donations as part of the musealisation of the country’s biggest photo collection.
Mehmet Kallfa who worked as photographer for the state news agency ATA and as a camera operator for Kinostudio movie production studio and at the archeology department of the University of Tirana, has a rich collection of pictures testimony to some of Albania’s most important events under communism such as the entry of the communist government to Tirana on November 28, 1944, Khrushchev’s visit to Albania in 1959 and renowned manifestations and congresses of the Communist Party.
He is also famous for the Albania’s first archeology album of 1971.
The Marubi collection of more than 100,000 negatives hosts pictures by Pietro Marubit, Kel Marubi, Gegë Marubi, Mati Kodheli Marubi, Kel Kodheli Marubi, Kol Idromeno, Shan Pici, Dedë Jakova, Pjetër Raboshta, Angjelin Nënshati
The Marubi archives are considered as one of the largest photo libraries in the Balkans, with a collection of more than 100,000 photographic negatives dating back to 1858.
Albanian photography started with Pietro Marubi, an Italian emigrant fleeing political repression from his country. He opened Albania’s first photography studio in 1858. Three generations of Marubis will follow in his footsteps. For about a century, the Marubi family have amassed more than 100,000 negatives. The selection of pictures reveals the political, social, cultural and religious diversity of the country.
