After years of orthodontia, Ellie finally was rid of her braces so we could take her long-awaited senior portraits! Below, I share the vision behind these images, the meaning of her costume and instrument choice, a bit of history about the locations, and the experience of photographing our daughter in Albania's most popular tourist hotspot!
Ever since Ellie was a young girl, I've dreamed of dressing her up in the traditional costume of central Albania. The full skirt over blousy pants with embroidered ankle cuffs.... the diaphanous flared sleeves, embroidered with gold thread and iridescent sequins... the neat scarlet jacket vest framed by a ruffly collar...
Raising her in the country of her birth, I thought such a images would pay tribute to her heritage.
After all, Albanian folk music is rife with imagery of Albanians dancing in these costumes surrounded by a cadre of musicians playing the ciftelia (two-stringed wooden instrument), sharkija (what she is holding above), lahuta (one-string played with a bow), fyelli (pipes), and daullja (drums).
And without doubt, Ellie has music running through her blood in spades.
After all, Albanian folk music is rife with imagery of Albanians dancing in these costumes surrounded by a cadre of musicians playing the ciftelia (two-stringed wooden instrument), sharkija (what she is holding above), lahuta (one-string played with a bow), fyelli (pipes), and daullja (drums).
And without doubt, Ellie has music running through her blood in spades.
As we approached this milestone in her life, I began thinking of a good place for this once-in-a-lifetime photo session. It had to have olive trees. And stone walls. (See the ancient stone olive press lying in the background below)
Having taken visitors many times to the capital of Albania in the Middle Ages, Kruja, it is a place with which we are quite familiar, though just far enough away that we would have to devote a good half-day to this venture.
Some years ago we found a quiet place within the castle walls tucked away from the more popular touristy spot. A guide once told us that in this lower corner of the castle compound Albania's ancient hero, Skenderbeg, made a daring escape through a secret exit point whilst the Ottomans held the city under siege. That is how we found this spot which has been the site of multiple family photos.
Earlier this year Ellie purchased this beautiful instrument called a sharkija, to add to her instrument collection. It was the ideal prop and perfectly completed her outfit.
We rented the costume from our friend Roza Koni, a talented seamstress in a neighboring village. She is known throughout the country for her work in creating these costumes as well as designing beautiful contemporary gowns. (She made Ellie's blue gown which she wore last summer for Luli and Hannah's wedding.)
Walking from the parking lot to our photo locations, Ellie was frequently stopped by tourists for a photo. She was more than happy to oblige. In fact, that may have been her favorite part of the day!
Below, Ellie poses outside the door to the ancient hamam. This public bathhouse was built in the late 1400s and consists of four rooms.
It is considered the oldest hammam in all of Albania and was renovated in 2015, though to our knowledge it has never been open to the public.
We love the overlook on the castle wall following the mountain range south.
There was a beautiful Byzantine church-turned-mosque (you can make out the edges to Ellie's left in the image below), but it suffered serious damage in the 2019 earthquake and is now supported by some very unattractive (but hopefully temporary) scaffolding.
I brought my DSLR camera but never ended up using it. Poor Nathan lugged it around on his back with my assorted lenses. All of these images were taken on a Samsung s23. Mistake number one -- I did not change the aspect ratio of my cell phone for these images... 9:16 would have better suited this image.
I brought my DSLR camera but never ended up using it. Poor Nathan lugged it around on his back with my assorted lenses. All of these images were taken on a Samsung s23. Mistake number one -- I did not change the aspect ratio of my cell phone for these images... 9:16 would have better suited this image.
And this one too...
Outside of the church/mosque stands an ancient olive tree. Tradition was that a married couple planted ten olive trees to commemorate their union. The tree under which Ellie sits (below) is attributed to having been planted by Skanderbeg himself!
The overlook, mosque, and olive tree are behind the wall, up the walkway behind Ellie. Underneath the wallway/bridge is the access to the secret exit through the castle walls...
1.) The entrance to Kruja's castle features a tunnel with little cut-outs, much like the entrances to city walls in Bible-times. The light bounced off the cobblestones for a lovely, dramatic effect. I have a favorite image on Instagram of Ellie posing with a musician in this same spot many years ago.
2.) If you note the coins on her hat, this represented a young woman's dowry. This is how we now understand the Parable of the Lost Coin...
The highlight for most tourists visiting Kruja is a shopping visit to the Old Bazaar. It's full of treasures ranging from mass-produced tchotchkes like magnets, t-shirts, and ashtrays to artisanal hand-woven wool rugs, carved olivewood bowls and utensils, silver filigree jewelry, antique military garb, ancient coins, paintings, and relics of communism.
Ellie's hands indicate she is Shqiptare (Albanian) and represent the double-headed eagle, the symbol on the nation's flag that pays homage to Skenderbeg's family crest.
Our silversmith friend, Fazan, unveiled his latest piece and let Ellie be the first to wear it. The design imitates jewelry design from several hundreds of years ago.
I would be remiss to not post Ellie's favorite image (below)
These were taken at the site of the old city well.
My dad would probably wrinkle his nose because of the lack of sunlight, but to me, Ellie looked like the real life version of a painting -- if 15th-century Albanian women wore glasses, lol.
Below, Ellie poses with Fazan, the silver jeweler.
Enjoying a celebratory coffee upon the conclusion of our shoot.
Second, after being asked to pose for photos with tourists, her favorite part of the shoot might have been having her parents to herself (Reni stayed home to work on school).
Thank you for listening to my rambles about these images of our daughter. Coincidentally, they were taken on the 18th anniversary of receiving the phone call informing us that she had been matched to our family. We thank God for entrusting us with this beautiful young lady that we call daughter. What a journey it has been!
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