The Other Side of Communism in Albania – photo exhibition in Tirana

The Other Side brings together twelve prominent Dutch photographers, all of whom documented the period prior to and during various revolutions in the former Eastern Block countries. They were witnesses of historical moments, such as the emergence of the Polish trade union Solidarnosc in Gdansk in 1980, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Romanian revolution of 1989. Yet, they also captured ordinary everyday life. The entirety reveals a surprising and multifaceted view of the Eastern Bloc at that time. The analogue photographs, in black and white and in color, bear the signature of the photographer, registering the way he or she photographed at that time. This exhibition couples the historical significances of the events with a broad overview of Dutch photojournalism in the 1980s and early 1990s. All the photographers exhibited are still alive and kicking, and together they form a new generation of documentary and journalistic photographers.  A special part of the exhibition is devoted to the work of photojournalist Piet den Blanken who travelled through Albania in 1986 as a part of a travel-group of “fellow comrades.” .Even though there was the prohibition on contact between Albanians and foreign visitors and the ban on taking street photos, he managed to take many photos of Albanians and their daily life under the communist regime.