My Home, My Prison

Nowadays blood feud is defined as a serious social plague in the Albanian society. It reveals the power vacuum that characterized post-communist Albania, and especially the extremely corrupt, slow, and unreliable judiciary system. It shows the incapacity of the state in defending the fundamental human right to life as the most fundamental and important right of individual protected by law: the right to education, social life, and freedom.

I found somehow fascinating that this ancestral social code could still exist in a modern country, specialy a country officialy candidate to EU last june 2014.

The Vukaj family of northern Albania, have been trapped in a Blood Feud conflict for 20 years. Innocent of any wrong doing, they nevertheless belong to the "wrong" clan. Isolated, unconsidered, and depending on corrupted public administrations, their entire life have been deprived.

What could you aspire to be, to do, or to say when the only space of freedom you have is your home, when this home turns to be finally your prison?

It has seem to me important to keep on informing about this issue, and show it with a delicat and humanistic approach.

In order to do so, the use of the protagonist texts combine with their pictures (took with single-used camera I provided) and mine, bring an intimate view on their longing, fears, hopes and dreams. I like to work with distinctive cases, documenting people in their intimacy, involving them as much as possible so that they can become the author of their own story. I believe that intimate moments are the most moving and challenging ones to look at, to question, and the ones that can also connect us emotionally across continents and despite our differences.

There are certain things we feel are beautiful and good, and we hope and hunger for them. Whatever happens we keep on moving further - and they did: In december 2014 the family escaped Albania, and is now waiting to receive their asylum right in Belgium.