The story of the Marubi studio started in about 1850, when the Italian Pietro Marubi emigrated to Shkodër, Albania, for political reasons. In 1856, just two decades after photography was invented, he established a photographic studio with the camera he brought with him from Italy. The studio’s camera shutters were not to stop for more than a century.
'Dynasty Marubi – a hundred years of Albanian studio photography', an exhibition of that legacy, is currently being staged by Foam (Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam), where a stream of black and white images provides a record of important aspects of Albania’s history and its people, captured by three generations of studio photographers from 1856–1959. In this country – the visual culture of which is little known – the collection provides a rich photographic history that stretches from Ottoman times to the communist period and includes social rituals, traditional costumes and group portraits of sociological significance.
Pietro Marubi started his practice using the wet-plate collodion process, the standard method of photography across Europe at that time. There is no record of where the studio was first located, although many studies suggest that it was actually al fresco, which could be true looking at the portraits of a wide variety of the locals. On the master’s death, his assistant Kei took over the business and changed his name to Marubi, bringing in techniques such as special effects and the retouching of negatives – together with more sophisticated cameras. The third generation of the studio, Kei’s son Gegë, was trained at the Lumière brothers' school in France in the 1920s. He pioneered the use of celluloid instead of glass plates in what was regarded as the studio’s most successful period.
In the 1970s, Gegë donated the studio's collection – some 150,000 glass negatives – to the Directorate of General Archives. He dedicated the rest of his life to working on their conservation and died in 1984. The archive is now housed at the Marubi National Museum Of Photography, which opened earlier this year in Shkodër, in a building designed by Dutch studio Casanova+Hernandez Architects.
The story of the Marubi studio started in about 1850, when the Italian Pietro Marubi emigrated to Shkodër, Albania, for political reasons.
In 1856, just two decades after photography was invented, he established a photographic studio with a camera he brought with him from Italy. The studio’s camera shutters were not to stop for more than a century. Pictured left: Kei Marubi with his wife in the studio, no date.
The archive is now housed at the Marubi National Museum Of Photography, which opened earlier this year in Shkodër. Pictured: Untitled, by Pietro Marubi, before 1881
INFORMATION
’Dynasty Marubi – a hundred years of Albanian studio photography’ is on view until 27 November. For more information, visit the Foam website
Photography: Marubi National Museum of Photography, Shkodër
ADDRESS
Foam Fotografiemuseum
Keizersgracht 609, Amsterdam
-
Six brilliant bars for your 2025 celebrations, hot off the Wallpaper* travel deskWallpaper’s most-read bar reviews of the year can't be wrong: here’s inspiration for your festive and new year plans, from a swanky Las Vegas lounge to a minimalist London drinking den
-
Misfires and Monstrosities: three vehicular design disasters that show taste is in retreatFrom a multi-million dollar piece merchandise to a wretched Rolls-Royce, these are the low points of the year in transportation design
-
Thirty years after Dog Man Star, Brett Anderson looks back on Suede's album coversBrett Anderson talks cover art, photography and iconic imagery
-
‘The danger of AI’, photography and the future at FoamNew project ‘Photography Through the Lens of AI’ asks the big questions at Foam, Amsterdam
-
Artist Peggy Kuiper’s impactful figurative works explore her memories and emotional landscape with striking visual intensityPeggy Kuiper presents ‘The Conversation That Never Took Place’ at Reflex in Amsterdam, featuring over 25 new works (until 13 July)
-
Meredith Monk’s interdisciplinary art sets all the senses singing in Amsterdam show‘Meredith Monk: Calling’ at Oude Kerk, Amsterdam, is both a series of concerts and a deep-dive into Monk’s eclectic oeuvre
-
Heads up: art exhibitions to see in January 2024Start the year right with the Wallpaper* pick of art exhibitions to see in January 2024
-
Carlijn Jacobs and Sabine Marcelis create a surreal fantasy at Foam, AmsterdamPhotographer Carlijn Jacobs has united with Sabine Marcelis on the design of her first solo exhibition, at Foam, Amsterdam
-
Caroline Walker curates as Grimm Amsterdam explores domesticity in artCurating ‘The Painted Room’ at Grimm Amsterdam, Caroline Walker explores the intimacy of interiors
-
Drift Museum, a blockbusting experiential space, is set to open in Amsterdam in 2025Drift Museum is a collaboration between art duo Drift – aka Lonneke Gordijn and Ralph Nauta – and entrepreneur Eduard Zanen
-
New York photography show sees cultural icons – from David Hockney to Maya Angelou – in unguarded moments‘Face to Face’ at New York’s International Center of Photography (27 January – 1 May 2023) sees cultural icons shot by Tacita Dean, Brigitte Lacombe and Catherine Opie
