North Epirus, an abandoned land. As a kid, I was staring across the barbed wire of the Greek-Albanian border and wonder about the secret country of Albania. Twenty years later I went back and crossed the border with my camera to explore the mysteries of my boyhood. I come originally from the Greek part of Epirus and that brings me closer to the people of that area. It’s a big shock, realising that if I was born just 20 miles in the north my life wouldn’t be the same. Albania is the poorest country in Europe, with a long history of wars and radical social changes. Since the end of WWII Albania was governed by an autocratic, Stalinist Communist party and from 1970’s ongoing was isolated from the rest of the world. Things changed in 1990 when communism collapse and a massive wave of Albanians migrate to other countries like Italy and Greece. This set of pictures taken in North Epirus, in the Southern Albania deals with the issue of migration in the aftermath of 45 years of oppression. The area of Epirus is located in the south west of the Balkan Peninsula, is divided between Greece and Albania and it’s mainly populated by Greeks. After the opening of the borders, about two thirds of the population of the area migrated to Greece. They left Albania because the economical and political instability, the collapse of infrastructures and the suppression of human rights. Nowadays villages that once had around 2000 population hardly have 100. The place is become deserted.
© Georgios Makkas

North Epirus, an abandoned land. As a kid, I was staring across the barbed wire of the Greek-Albanian border and wonder about the secret country of Albania. Twenty years later I went back and crossed the border with my camera to explore the mysteries of my boyhood. I come originally from the Greek part of Epirus and that brings me closer to the people of that area. It’s a big shock, realising that if I was born just 20 miles in the north my life wouldn’t be the same. Albania is the poorest country in Europe, with a long history of wars and radical social changes. Since the end of WWII Albania was governed by an autocratic, Stalinist Communist party and from 1970’s ongoing was isolated from the rest of the world. Things changed in 1990 when communism collapse and a massive wave of Albanians migrate to other countries like Italy and Greece. This set of pictures taken in North Epirus, in the Southern Albania deals with the issue of migration in the aftermath of 45 years of oppression. The area of Epirus is located in the south west of the Balkan Peninsula, is divided between Greece and Albania and it’s mainly populated by Greeks. After the opening of the borders, about two thirds of the population of the area migrated to Greece. They left Albania because the economical and political instability, the collapse of infrastructures and the suppression of human rights. Nowadays villages that once had around 2000 population hardly have 100. The place is become deserted.
© Georgios Makkas

During my first trip in Albania I visited an abandoned school. The teachers’ office was unlocked and almost untouched for years. A thick layer of dust covered everything.

In the floor was a big pile of school records. I start browsing through the files. I came across an envelope with black and white photographs.

I thought they were old photographs from WWII. The kids looked sad in their poor quality clothes and some of them definitely undernourished.

I was shocked when I looked on the backsides. Those were portraits from the star pupils of the school year 1989-1990.

I asked the locals if they recognize any of those kids, and where they are now. They told me than all except one migrated to Greece with their parents soon after the opening of the borders.

Those are the kids that once occupied the empty spaces of my photographs.