2017 marked 25 years since the end of communist rule in Albania. Once considered the "North Korea of Europe”, the country was isolated under a brutal regime, following centuries of occupation by the Ottoman Empire, Italy and Nazi Germany. These shifting influences have left Albania with something of an identity crisis as it adapts its historic alignment with the East to a new Europe dominated by the West. This project looks at Albania today, ostensibly on a path towards EU membership, while still struggling with issues of organised crime, corruption, emigration and the heavy weight of the past.
Opposition protest against local elections, Shkodra, 2019
Vlorë, 2015
Pilgrimage site at Laç, 2015
Durrës, 2016
Construction site near ancient ruins, Durrës, 2017
Albania vs. Norway football match, Tirana, 2013
Partisan monument, Korça, 2015
View of the Black Drin river, Shkodra, 2015
Gjipe beach, 2015
Ottoman Era bridge, outside Shkodra, 2015
Bike repair shop, Shkodra, 2015
Bajram Curri, 2013
Mihal, Fisherman near Lin, 2015
Pogradec, 2015
Young butcher, Tirana, 2015
Albania vs. Armenia football match, Shkodra, 2015
Shkodra, 2016
Pilgrims leaving offerings at the church of Saint Anthony, Laç, 2015
Ferry, Lake Koman, 2013
Closed beach resort, Shengjin, 2017
Shkodra, 2015
Folklore festival, Gjirokastra, 2015
Theth National Park, 2015
Fishermen heading to their boats, Vlora, 2015
Waiting for a train, Tirana, 2013
Communist apartment blocks, Korça, 2015
Shop owner, Bajram Curri, 2013
Crumbling villa, Shkodra, 2017
Gjirokastra, 2013
Gazim, surveying flood damage to his home, outskirts of Tirana, 2016
Laç, 2015
Nick St.Oegger, Documentary Photographer
Award winning documentary photographer based between Belfast, Northern Ireland and Tirana, Albania.