German human rights photographer and long-term resident of Albania, Jutta Benzenberg will display a retrospective of her works in an exhibition at the National Museum of Photography Marubi in Shkoder this July, bringing a unique history of Albania, intertwined with her own path.
A carefully curated selection of her work, entitled “From Now to 1991” will be on display in the museum between 8 July to 11 November 2022 and will be curated by Kim Knoppers.
Benzenberg studied photography at the Staatliche Fachakademie für Fotodesign” München (DE) and worked afterwards as a photographer for different magazines and theatres. She travelled to Albania for the first time in 1991 to shoot images of the ongoing upheaval following the collapse of the communist regime, with writer Ardian Klosi who would go on to become her husband.
Since then, she has produced many notable collections of work, focussing on Albania life, culture, history, and the lives and wishes of ordinary people. She has also published several books, including some with Klosi, who sadly passed away in 2012.
Benzenberg was also a photographer for Prime Minister Edi Rama, a close friend of her husband, and she worked on his 2013 electoral campaign. But she soon returned to photographing portraits, with a need for human connection and reality.
As well as actively continuing to take photos, Benzenberg runs photography workshops in Germany, Austria, and Albania, and continues to exhibit her work locally and abroad.
The exhibition will bring together some of her most iconic images, along with a short commentary from Benzenberg herself.
Knoppers is an art historian, writer, lecturer, and curator from The Netherlands but based in Turkey. She has worked in museums but also with cultural institutions, NGOs and artists.
The Balkanista meets humanitarian photographer Jutta Benzenberg
