A selection of images from Albania from 2013 to the Present. When I first traveled to the Balkans, many people warned me against going to Albania, claiming the country was run by mafia gangs, that there was a risk of kidnapping, or simply that there was "nothing to see." What I discovered could not be further from the truth. These photos try to capture the beauty and complexity of a rapidly changing country, only 25 years removed from one of the most repressive communist regimes in history, and all too often associated with only negative stereotypes.
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
The 19th century castle of Ali Pasha Tepelenë, built on an outcrop at Porto Palermo, on Albania's southern coast, 2022.
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
Crumbling villa, Shkodra, 2017
Gjirokastra, 2013
Gazim, surveying flood damage to his home, outskirts of Tirana, 2016
Laç, 2015
Nick St.Oegger - Documentary and Travel Photographer
Nick St.Oegger is an award winning documentary photographer and National Geographic Explorer based between Belfast, Northern Ireland and Tirana, Albania.