If you have been following my blog, you know I have been reporting on a Photography trip I took in September 2024 to five countries in the Balkan area. 

They are: Bosnia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Albania and North Macedonia. 

I’m coming to the end of that series, but would like to share one last post packed with photos that I couldn’t fit anywhere else.  

I’ve had a  little trouble describing the countries as a group so I’m hoping these images will help to show what I saw.  

First, of course, I loved reflections and bridges.  Can’t get enough of these opportunities.  There were lots. 

And I did play a bit with some abstraction. What you see below is a large ceiling ornamental light fixture in a roof top night club in Tirana, Albania. We went up there during the day to shoot city scapes from the balcony,  but I found the circular shapes and colors quite fascinating.  

But let’s move on to the people watching.  That’s always of interest to me.  I was drawn to capturing the  little boy playing in the puddles. How universal is that? Could be anywhere.  

The long hair and the cute shoes caught my attention. I can’t imagine wearing shoes like that for sightseeing, but this lady did and happily posed for us in a ruined fortress.  

I didn’t get a good photo of the man but I captured his carefully holding his dominos in the park in Albania. A large group of senior men seemed to be having fun on a beautiful afternoon.  

Don’t you just love these ladies greeting each other on the sidewalk?I wonder how long they have known each other.

Street photography is always a joy. This is  shot of a group of hikers  celebrating a major hike. The lady walking by seemed oblivious. On a mission, apparently. The group waited patiently while she passed by to take their picture. 

This dog posed for me.  Haha.  Not quite. I liked how he is framed in the fence. And what about these cats? I will comment that I rarely saw window boxes with flowers in them on this trip. My sense is that the people in these countries struggle to survive. Their focus isn’t on ornamentation.   

And here’s an interesting example, In Albania we saw scales on the streets.  One could weigh oneself and throw in a coin to compensate the owner. Obviously there are no bathroom scales at home.

I loved the bright colors often disguising the old and beat up buildings.

Not sure why this intrigues me but I saw the garbage container in the middle of the nowhere.  Not sure why it is sitting there.Interesting shape don’t you think? 

Here are a few  street scenes. A play area in an Albanian town. Sculptures in Skopje, North Macedonia.  

Hope you enjoyed this little journey through these countries not always visited.