Blog Bergina Leka photographer

Jun

Never give up

Before having Isabelle it was “easy” taking pictures. Anytime I felt like it was a good day going out there and search for something special, I could do it. In my bag there was always my flash, 2 other lenses and obviously my Canon. Very often I would take my tripod too, mostly to experiment with long exposure.
Well, Isabelle came and I had to reduce my gear. So the first to be kicked out was my tripod. Luckily Isabelle was growing healthy and that means she was gaining a lot of weight. In no time she was double her size at birth, so I had to lighten my bag and soon enough the only thing I could take with me was just my camera with a 17-70mm lens.
Well I thought, what else could happen to make my job “more difficult”. I was wrong. Isabelle, very often wants to be carried and my camera seems a funny toy to her. So I started to stop and photograph something only when I was 200% sure it was worth it.
During our trip in Albania I was more busy translating conversations between my parents and my husband, who by the way after 4 years of marriage can barely say How are you in albanian so the time to take pictures was drastically reduced.
Two days before our return in UK I could finally meet with my best friend, who lives more than 2 hours away by car. On our way there we found a lot of traffic and we got stuck for another hour. Everybody was hungry. It was almost 3pm. Isabelle was super bored in her car seat and tried all types of cries to make us free her.
It was an absolute nightmare. We started to sing and to play with her, but no way, all she wanted was to get off and run.
Finally we arrived in Fier and our meeting point was my friend’s working place.
I was rushing to meet with her and I was holding Isabelle in my arms. My husband was waiting downstairs for us.
Even though I was tired and I knew I had no time, I couldn’t not notice this staircase and I absolutely loved it and I really wanted to photograph it. I tried my best to hold Isabelle with one hand and the camera on the other one. I took only these two shots and that’s it.
Back home I finally could edit both those and was very happy with the outcome.
I submitted the vertical one to Vogue Italy and they published it. When I saw it published, it really made me happy and it reminded me that if you really want to achieve something there is nothing to stop you, but you. Never give up on your passions !

Check you Vogue Portfolio .

Jun

Come and visit Albania

It was almost 3 years since my last visit in Albania and there are more than 14 years since I left this country initially to live in Italy and now in UK.

It was my daughter’s first visit and we decided to travel a bit around, rather than staying only in Elbasan with my parents. I can’t describe the joy I had while we are travelling in this country. The light is absolutely fantastic, and I had almost forgot it. It shapes the environment and emphasise its colors.

I was not aiming to photograph Albania as a tourist destination, but I was photographing the sensations and feelings that this wonderful country was transmitting to me, to us. We really felt at peace and very much relaxed while we are enjoying a proper albanian meal or drinking a coffee. And even when it was raining we still felt relaxed (4 years in UK help) and we were eating delicious desserts in warm company.

Nov

And then I became his wife (the story of a project)

It was like a chapter of my life was going to end. It was like, I was living the last hours of who I was. I had to climb the bridge and there was no turning back. Although I was sure that I really loved him, I was scared. In a few hours I was going to promise to him that I will love and respect him forever…. and that was the word that scared me most: FOREVER. I was leaving everything behind and I was going to become somebody’s wife. What happens if I don’t feel free anymore? What happens if I stop loving him? What happens if we change so much that we even recognise our self?
That was my last night like a single lady. I woke up and the sun was kissing the last drops of the rain of yesterday night and was smiling to me. Far way from home I was bounding my life with that of another man. I wish my mother had seen me that morning and had said to me that I was the most beautiful bride of all the world. I was just about to run away … I wasn’t ready. But then I saw him and I remembered how much I loved him. I remembered all our laughs, how I feel protected on his arms. I was scared, oh God knows how much I was scared… but finally I was ready to start this new adventure. I thought, what happens if I don’t have him on my side for the rest of my life? I kissed him and then I became his wife.
Devastated

Sad bride

This is my territory

I don't want to be here

Bride kissed by the sun

In the ice

Trying to relax

Bride and the Sun

Selected and published as story of the week by JPG Magazine

Oct

Where thou art, that is Home

When people asks me where I am from, things get a bit complicated. It seems so obvious to tell them the name of a country located somewhere in the world. It is indeed true, I am from Albania, this tiny country in the Mediterranean. Of course I feel Albanian in my heart, and this country will always be part of me and I still hold an Albanian passport. Most of the people connect the question “where are you from” with the country of their origins. In that case Albania is the right answer. The thing is that I left Albania when I was 18, and moved to Italy. It’s there where I’ve studied, I’ve grown up and became the woman that I am today. My stay in Italy has changed me in a way that Albania could never have done. So, my home is Italy too.
For me the question “where do you come from” is as well connected to the country where you actually live, where you work during the day and sleep almost every night, where you pay taxes and where you buy food. So I am from the UK too. I do strongly agree with Dickens: ”Where thou art, that is Home”.
When I first moved here, I knew just a little about this country and I thought that the best way to know more, is to travel and visit it, meet the people, watch the life on its streets. I discovered a country of beauty and great culture.
southampton common2

south western house

snow in southampton2

snow in southampton

sea museum southampton

Feb

Looking for the twins

I must admit, I’m not a fan of horror movies. However I was too curious about Shining. Everybody I met kept saying that I had to watch it. That movie was a must for everybody.
So, I armed my self with courage and popcorn and almost two years ago, I watched it.
It is indeed one of the most scariest movies I’ve ever seen. I remember hiding my face behind the cushion and feeling small like an ant at the corner of my couch. I was scared, but I was as well very much fascinated. Stanley Kubrick had indeed directed one of the most scariest and beautiful films of the history.
The scene of Danny playing with his tricycle is still very strong in my memories. Now, when I am in a hotel, I do have the feeling the twins will pop out and will invite me to their terrifying room 237. Although a part of me is still scared, I always dedicate some time to my touristic tour of the hotel. Now I can’t leave it without taking a photo of its corridor, as a proof that i couldn’t find the twins … not yet.
I am still looking for the twins!

Feb

Do it anyway

Don't be scared little girl

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway.
What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway.
Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway.
In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.

These beautiful verses were written on the wall of Mother Teresa’s home for children in Calcutta, India, and are widely attributed to her. They seem to be based on a composition originally by Kent Keith, The paradoxical commandments.

Jun

Mall

It's raining again

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

Fjalet e qiririt

The missing candle

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

Do not speak

Don't speak

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 Just a dream, it’s not the end

Apr

Help me God !

Help me God

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

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