bergina leka Archives - Bergina Leka

Jun

Piccole cose – Little things

Queste piccolezze, che ai miei occhi sembravano il mondo,
si sono lentamente seccate.
Queste piccolezze che mi riscaldavano il cuore,
sono lentamente cadute.

Vagheranno ancora per poco
Trasformandomi in un ricordo di quel che ho voluto essere,
Ora sono un tronco,
pronto ad essere riciclato.

These little things, which to my eyes seemed like the world,
they slowly dried out.
These little things that warmed my heart,
they slowly fell.

They will wander for a while longer
Turning me into a memory of what I wanted to be,
Now I’m a trunk,
ready to be recycled.

Oct

La pioggia

Cade giù leggera.
Accarezza le case,
accarezza le strade.

Cade giù leggera.
Lava i colori,
lava le tristezze.

Cade giù leggera.
Bacia i miei occhi,
bacia la mia pelle.

Feb

Il posto che chiamiamo casa non è il posto dove viviamo, ma dove sono conservate e prosperano le nostre radici. Magari in un posto lontano, magari in un rumore, magari in un odore… e magari sono intrecciate e unite per sempre in un intenso abbraccio con un altro cuore…

The place we call home it’s not where we live, but where our roots are preserved and thrive. Maybe in a distant place, maybe in a noise, maybe in a smell … and maybe they are intertwined and united forever in an intense embrace with another heart …

Dec

Ombre…

Siamo come le ombre…
È solo grazie al sole che siamo visibili.
Cambiamo forma perché il sole brilla indisturbato dalle nuvole.
E io provo ad essere il tuo sole… Ma Tu sei molto grande e io molto piccola…
Io da sola non ci riesco a far risaltare la tua ombra.

Jul

Riflessione

La verità e che la vita scorre molto veloce
e ad un tratto ci si trova con un pugno di ricordi in mano,
ricordi non necessariamente veri e autentici,
ma è tutto quello che ci rimane….

Jul

Ricordo

Magari qui ci saremmo seduti a prendere un caffè
e poi avremmo sentito il calore del sole sul nostro corpo.
Ma la distanza è veramente tanta,
e posti del genere si trasformano in possibili bellissimi ricordi.

Jun

Assenza

Cerco rifugio in un sogno.
Camminiamo assieme perché non ci sei più
Ti abbraccio forte perché non ti vedo
Ti stringo forte perché non riesco più a toccarti
Tra poco è alba
Tra poco ridiventi ricordo…

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 .

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

May

Do not 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 holding lightly