Photography in Albania

When Mati died prematurely at age nineteen, in 1881, Pietro adopted Kel, whom he also sent to Italy to study and who would later assume the surname Marubi.

He, in turn, was followed into business by his own son, Geg Marubi, who studied photography and cinematography in France at the Lumière brothers’ studio.

[2] With the onset of Communist rule in the 1940s, when every private enterprise was prohibited by law, Geg Marubi was forced to turn over his family’s archive to the state.

Other well-known photographers of this time include Dhimitër Vangjeli, Vani Burda, Kristo Sulidhi, Pero Kaçauni, Kolë Maca, Kristaq Sotiri, Foti Papajani, Dedë Jakova, Ali Bakiu, Petro Dhimitri, Manaqi Brothers, Lilo Xhimitiku, Ymer Bali, Shan Pici, Pjetër Rraboshta and others.

The central institution responsible for producing and archiving images was the Albanian Telegraphic Agency which had a photographic laboratory as early as 1947.

This image of Italian consul Alessandro De Rege di Donato, who served in Shkodër from February 20, 1881 to February 18, 1886 is one of the earliest preserved photographs in Albania (c. Pietro Marubi).
Marubi Museum hosts a vast collection of more than 500,000 photographs dating back to 1856.