When I think about my trip to Albania last fall that was part of a five country photo blitz of  Balkan countries, what comes to mind are the interesting and sometimes colorful buildings. I saw quite a range and would like to share them here to give you an impression of this  somewhat gritty country.

The first impression I had is of the many painted surfaces. The major of  Tirana, the capital of Albania, is known for encouraging painting old communist style buildings to  hide some of the ugliness.  Mr. Edi Rama encouraged painting the facades of old buildings to symbolize Tirana’s new colorful future.

Here’s a building where this was done and a reflection of another building in the glass siding of a market.

I saw more efforts to hide ugliness with large murals painted along the sides of less than attractive structures. Some were quite clever and fun to look at.

Many buildings in this Albanian city have fallen into disrepair with no effort to restore or hide the decay. Scenes like these were quite common.

But in some places the very old structures in neighborhoods were painted in happy colors and motifs.

I saw lots of modern buildings with interesting colors, textures, shapes and bump out areas. Be aware a few of these photographs  were shot out of a window from a moving bus  creating odd black shapes around the edges of the images.

I’d like to include some of the religious buildings I encountered.  Albania is a religiously diverse country with a Muslim majority although not officially Muslim. Here are some Orthodox Christian churches including the beautiful dome ceiling  and a dramatic mosque.

I can’t forget the bomb shelters. I wrote about them in an earlier blog post. They could be spotted all over the country side.

And to finish off this blog post, I’ll include three  things that made me smile.  I loved the bright and happy colors in the highway rest stop coffee shop, the lamp post in a park and the sign on the building.  Enjoy!

This trip was organized by Fantastic Photo Tours.

Here is an interesting article about Tirana and the colorful facades. 

New website: susanjsmithphoto.org

Exhibitions

April 1-May 29, 2025

Photograph: Big Red Shoes

Exhibition:  Walking

Dates: April 1- May 29, 2025

Location: Glen Arbor Arts Center

April 26-June 21, 2025

Photograph: Toronto Staircase

Exhibition: U-Create Lowell Arts Members Exhibit

Location: Lowell Arts Center

https://www.lowellarts.org/

June 10-July 6, 2025

Personal Postcards: Messages From Afar

Solo Exhibition

Image City Photography Gallery

Rochester, NY

Artist Reception: June 13 from 5 to 8:30

http://www.imagecityphotographygallery.com/