The photographic History of Albania.

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Foam in Amsterdam presents an exhibition that looks at the legacy of the Marubi studio which started when Pietro Marubi emigrated from Italy to Shkodër, Albania, for political reasons in 1880. With the camera he brought with him from Italy, Pietro established his photographic studio in 1856, just two decades after photography was invented.

The studio was home to three generations of photographers whose work provides valuable insight into Albania’s history and its people, from shepherds and criminals to famous actors, painters, bourgeoisie and King Zog I of Albania. After Pietro’s death in 1903, his assistant Kel adopted his surname in tribute to him and ran the studio himself, eventually passing it to his son Gegë, who trained at the Lumière brothers' school in France in the 1920s.

The incredible collection of 150,000 glass negatives, donated by Gegë in the 70s to the Directorate of General Archives, is a rich photographic history of Albania and its turbulent past.

‘Dynasty Marubi - A Hundred Years of Albanian Studio Photography’ is on at Foam Museum, Amsterdam until November 27, 2016.