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Jun
26

Mall

  • Posted By : Bergina Leka/
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Ismail Kadare (b. 1936) is at present the only Albanian writer to enjoy a broad international reputation. His talents both as a poet and as a prose writer have lost none of their innovative force over the last three decades.
At the end of October 1990, a mere two months before the final collapse of the dictatorship, Ismail Kadare left Tirana and applied for political asylum in France, a move which, for the first time, gave him an opportunity to exercise his profession with complete freedom.

To read the german or the french version of this poesy, please follow the link 
Sehnsucht – Ismail Kadare’
Absence – Ismail Kadare’

Ca pika shiu ranë mbi qelq.
Për ty unë befas ndjeva mall.
Jetojmë të dy në një qytet,
Dhe rrallë shihemi, sa rrallë.

Edhe m’u duk pak e çuditshme
Si erdh kjo vjeshtë, ky mëngjes.
Qiejt e ngrysur pa lejlekë
Dhe shirat pa ylberë në mes.

Dhe thënia e vjetër e Heraklitit
Seç m’u kujtua sot për dreq :
« Të zgjuarit janë bashkë në botë,
Kurse të fjeturit janë veç ».

Në ç’ëndërr kemi rënë kaq keq,
Që dot s’po zgjohemi ne vallë ?…
Ca pika shiu ranë mbi qelq
Dhe unë për ty seç ndjeva mall.

1976 – Ismail Kadare’


Jun
20

Fjalet e qiririt

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This beautiful poem is written by Naim Frasheri, one of the most important writers of the 20th century in Albania. To read the english version of “Word of the candle”, follow the link www.albanianliterature.net
The poem is translated by Robert Elsie

Në mes tuaj kam qëndruar
E jam duke përvëluar,
Që t’u ap pakëzë dritë,
Natënë t’ua bënj ditë.

Do të tretem, të kullohem,
Të digjem, të përvëlohem,
Që t’u ndrinj mir’ e të shihni,
Njëri-tjatërin të njihni.

Për ju do të rri të tretem,
Asnjë çikë të mos mbetem,
Të digjem e të qanj me lot,
Se dëshirën s’e duronj dot.

Unë zjarrit nuk i druhem
Dhe kurrë s’dua të shuhem,
Po të digjem me dëshirë,
Sa të munt t’u ndrinj më mirë.

Kur më shihni se jam tretur,
Mos pandehni se kam vdekur;
jam i gjall’ e jam ndë jetë
jam në dritët të vërtetë,

Unë jam në shpirtin tuaj,
Mos më kini për të huaj,
M’është falurë durimi,
Andaj po digjem si trimi,

Se ma k’ënda t’u bënj mirë,
Të mos mbeti n’errësirë.
Jakëni rreth meje rrini,
Flisni, qeshni, hani, pini,

Në shpirt kam dashurinë,
Pa digjem për njerëzinë,
Lemëni të përvëlohem,
nukë dua më të ftohem,

Dua ta djek trupn’ e kretë
Për atë zotn’ e vërtetë.
Me zjarr ta djek mushkërinë
E të tretem për njerinë,

Bashkë me gëzimt të tija
të vete te perëndia.
Unë dua njerëzinë,
Mirësin’ e urtësinë.

Në bëhi shokë me mua,
Në më doni si u dua,
Njëri-tjetërin në doni,
Të paudhë mos punoni.

O zëmëra fluturake,
Qasju pakë kësaj flake!
Mase krahët t’i përvëlon,
Po dhe shpirtin ta shënjtëron.

Unë duke përvëluar,
Njerëzit i kam ndrituar.
Kam qënë mik me njerinë,
Andaj i di e më dinë.

Gjithë tuajt’ i kam parë,
Mëm’ e at’ e fis e farë,
Si tani gjithë i kam ndër mënt,
Që rrininë më këtë vënt.

Edhe sot nër ju ata shoh,
Se shpirtin e tyre ua njoh,
Dhe unë si ju jam ndruar
E jam përzjer’ e ndryshuar,

Pa jam bërë shumë herë
Zjar e uj’ e balt’ e erë.
Jam një shkëndijë pej qielli
dhe një drudhëzë pej dielli.

Edhe ndër qiej fluturonj,
Edhe brënda në det qëndronj,
Shumë herë fle në baltë,
Diku ndodhem dhe në mjaltë

Bënem qëngj e kec i pirë,
Lul’ e bar e gjeth i mbirë.
Dua shumë fjalë t’u them,
Po trëmbem mos i bënj ujem.
E ku shkruhenë në kartë
Fjalët’ e gjuhësë zjarrtë?

Naim Frasheri


May
12

Do not speak

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It was October 2011.
My youngest sister (at that time she was just 19) had just arrived in Italy to continue her studies at the roman university Roma Tre.
Like I did 8 years before her arrival, she left everything behind, our family, her friends, her memories … everything. She came to live with me, and unconsciously she brought me back in time, when I was 18 years old and had just arrived in Italy. I saw on her face fears and doubts that 8 years ago were mine too.
I saw myself on her face. This is why I decided to work on a autobiographic project. Since I wasn’t ready to point the camera on my face, I asked her to become my model.
I wanted to show how a person can feel in a foreign country; how difficult the initial time can be.
To make it more personal, I decided to add Rome as a background element at least in one photo.
On the roof of “Musei Vaticani”I had an idea. The distance between us and the city inspired me, I thought it was a good element to have in my project. I tried a few shots.
When we went back home, and I was editing my photos, I realized that there was an element which I hadn’t valued at the beginning: the shadow on her mouth. I had an idea. Eureka! I emphasized it, and the shadow became a gag. Yes, that was what I was looking for: the huge distance between me and the city and the inability to speak. I saw in that specific moment  “Do not speak!”
When you are new and, specially when you are alone, integration might be very difficult due to the barriers that a group put in front of the newcomer.

The photo is part of the project holding lightly

 


Apr
28

Help me God !

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I love sharing this photo and the reason that I do like this one is to show to all that, in our very fast and high-tech world, there are still people who reminds us the simple things of the life. They just stop and, with simplicity, show a world that we very often ignore.
My journey in Vienna was coming to end and I was spending my last moments at S. Stephan’s Church.
I do like spending some time inside a religious place and observe the people. I do classify them in 3 main categories.

1- The Curious. They just want to visit another typical place, taking some pictures and show to all the friends, when they will be back home, what they have visited.
2- Art lovers. They enter in a church only to admire the masterpieces on the walls.
3- Believers. They want to meet God and want to ask him for mercy, help, love, understanding … they want that somebody hears them. They want to open their hearts and talk with honesty.

I was looking for this category of people. I was waiting for the right person, the one who will make me think, “yes, it is worth to light up a candle and whisper a pray”.
I tried some shots, but I wasn’t satisfied, the light was not right, the moment was caught wrong or was not what I wanted to transmit. So I decided to stop and observe rather than shoot.
I saw him coming close to the stand, taking a candle and lighting it up and, when he was just about to place it next to her “sisters”, I heard my camera’s “click” and I knew I saved that moment.
This photo is the good combination of these ingredients: having a photo idea, previewing the photo, waiting for the right moment, speed on shooting and luck.
Yes, Help me God !

This article was published first on Picture Power on the section My most powerful picture


Mar
20

Arcangeli and their music

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 One day I received a call. A nice voice from the other part of the phone kindly requested to be photographed with her friend while they both were playing the harp. That lady was Helena de Rijke, the member of the harp duo Arcangeli. I got surprised, I never thought that there is still somebody who plays this instrument.  Well, I must admit, I normally listen rock music and there are a lot of guitars and drums on the stage, so the harp for me was an  instrument, which belonged to the past. I was wrong. I admit it.
We scheduled an appointment and we met at the South Western House, a wonderful building in Southampton.
I discovered that the harp was regularly used by many baroque and classical composer – Handel, Mozart, Boieldieu, Albrechtsberger, Schenk, Dussek, Spohr, Berlioz, Liszt, Puccini, Debussy, Tchaikovsky, Strauss, Wagner. This was a big surprise for me. I could recognize its magical sound and felt very shy for having gave no name for a long time to the instrument. Now I know this instrument… now I can hear it. What I’ve learned thanks to the photography is that we see what we know and we know only what we see! This is a continuous  lesson… this is what photography always teaches to me. It was wonderful meeting Arcangeli, Helena and Jenny and listening to their wonderful music. 

 

“Arcangeli” Harp Duo | Website: www.harpitecture.com
Jenny Broome | Email: jenny@harpitecture.com
Helena de Rijke | Email: helenaderijke@hotmail.com


Jan
25

Ieri ho sofferto il dolore

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Ieri ho sofferto il dolore,
non sapevo che avesse una faccia sanguigna,
le labbra di metallo dure,
una mancanza netta d’orizzonti.
Il dolore è senza domani,
è un muso di cavallo che blocca
i garretti possenti,
ma ieri sono caduta in basso,
le mie labbra si sono chiuse
e lo spavento è entrato nel mio petto
con un sibilo fondo
e le fontane hanno cessato di fiorire,
la loro tenera acqua
era soltanto un mare di dolore
in cui naufragavo dormendo,
ma anche allora avevo paura
degli angeli eterni.
Ma se sono così dolci e costanti,
perchè l’immobilità mi fa terrore?

Alda Merini

The photo is part of the project Self-Portrait


Nov
08

Serendipity

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My mother always told me – Happiness is just at the corner! I swear, when I was a kid, I checked every morning and every evening all the corners of my apartment, but I never found somebody or something saying to me – Hi, I’m Happiness, do you want to play with me?
One day, probably when I started to go to school, I realized that the world is so big and me, nothing more than a little drop in this enormous ocean. And than I thought, probably I’ve searched on the wrong corners. I started to search better, behind the curtains, inside the cupboard, I went in all the hidden and forgotten places. I went everywhere I could; I had a mission, finding Happiness. When the darkness came and I tired, finally could go sleeping, I had always the same dream;  I flew away, until I reached the valley plenty with poppies and where the air was so fresh, that I couldn’t stop breathing and feeling in my lungs the freshness penetrating me so deep.
Years after years, I grow up and a became a lady, but I never forgot my mission. I started a very long journey. Every where I went, I found just some tiny drops of pleasure, all mixed with the grey and sad sadness. And I start to search happiness even further, and I became like a crazy bee without a right flight path. Stress penetrated me so deep devastating my dreams. I got lost and I started to doubt – was really me who flew every night to the valley plenty with poppies? Was really me who ran to catch the wind? Was really me who searched for Happiness every morning and every evening?
Years flew away like the leaves in autumn and I realized that for a very long time  I’ve  heard people calling my name without understanding its meaning. I’ve heard people shouting their dreams without giving me the permission to share mine too. I couldn’t recognize words anymore, all I heard was a mixture of rumours.
What have I done? I was so focused on finding Happiness, that I didn’t realized that my present, my life was slipping from my hands. I was on the wrong place and I was counting time in the wrong way.
I was losing the chance to find happiness. When I fell desperate and started to cry, I remembered the words of a wise woman. “To understand light, we must know darkness. To understand the words, we must know the silence. To understand company, we must know loneliness”.
So, I closed first my mouth, than the door, I turned off the lights and stayed in this limbo for a long while. People forgot me, and left me alone. Sleeping was so hard at the beginning, eating was impossible. When I was nothing more than some bones, suddenly I started to sleep, and than to eat and than to dream my valley again. I woke up, washed my face, put on my mascara and a party dress and finally, after a long time I said Hello to the world. Was always me, but I wasn’t the same person anymore. I was different; my mission was different – Living my life! Living every day, every second and enjoying everything. I felt this positive energy penetrating me in me deep and making me feel so light. I was back. One day when the sun rose up and said hallo to me, I realized that I was in the arms of a man who loved me and I was sure that I loved him too. I heard the voice of my mother saying to me “Happiness is just at the corner”, and I finally understood what she meant.
This is Serendipity


Oct
31

South Western House

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There is not so much left here in Southampton, the german bombardments have almost destroyed everything. After the Second World War, the city was rebuilt maintaining its style. But there still is a place where the beauty and the grandeur of days gone by, can be visit and touched. Very close to the docs, proud about its history there is  South Western House (before – South Western Hotel), designed by John Norton and opened its doors in 1872. Its grandeur reflected the wealth of the shipping industry at that time. The public areas are particularly beautiful, with a great deal of marble and elaborate ironwork on the passenger lift shafts and the staircases. In fact the main staircase was the prototype for the grand staircase on the Titanic. The building still shows evidence of the grandeur of days gone by.
The building played host to many distinguished guests. Two very notable ones were Winston Churchill and Dwight Eisenhower during the Second World War. The men planned the D Day invasion in one of the small public rooms on the first floor. There is also photographic evidence that the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother visited the Hotel
More recently, Berkeley Homes re-developed the upper floors into 94 luxury apartments and penthouses. The remaining ground floor space has been developed into 15 Studio Apartments by Bayview Homes.

 


Aug
17

Il dolore dell’anima

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… silence

Incredibile come il dolore dell’anima non venga capito. Se ti becchi una pallottola o una scheggia si mettono subito a strillare presto-barellieri-il-plasma, se ti rompi una gamba te la ingessano, se hai la gola infiammata ti danno le medicine. Se hai il cuore a pezzi e sei così disperato che non ti riesce aprir bocca, invece, non se ne accorgono neanche. Eppure il dolore dell’anima è una malattia molto più grave della gamba rotta e della gola infiammata, le sue ferite sono assai più profonde e pericolose di quelle procurate da una pallottola o da una scheggia. Sono ferite che non guariscono, quelle, ferite che ad ogni pretesto ricominciano a sanguinare. – Oriana Fallaci


Jul
14

Anima mia

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Anima mia che metti le ali
e sei un bruco possente
Ti fa meno male l’oblio
che questo cerchio di velo
e se diventi farfalla
nessuno più sa’
a ciò che è stato
quando strisciavi per terra
e non volevi le ali.

Alda Merini


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