Kosovo Journal

Long before I arrived to Prishtina, I had already developed the preconceived notion that Kosovo was a war stricken country burdened with constant crime and corruption and was no place for an American to live. Upon my arrival, I quickly came to the realization that my idea of the place couldn’t be further from the truth. The people here love Americans, and they have a genuine interest of who we are and where were from. Over my years I have visited many countries and lived in a couple as well, but I cannot recall being exposed to a culture quite as welcoming as this one. The friendliness of the people is something I notice everyday, and coming from Florida that was not something I would see very often especially from strangers. The over mentality here seems to be very relaxed and there is an honest caring for one another.

One of the things I enjoy most here in Prishtina is the food! Not only is it extremely inexpensive, it is also very organic and unmistakably delicious. So far I have been eating out for almost every meal and each restaurant I go to never ceases to impress me. I can feel my body being cleansed from all the processed food that America practically its citizens to eat, and now with a recently acquired gym membership I will soon be in the best shape of my life. Last but not least, the weather and landscape here in Kosovo is to die for. Again since I am from Florida I have been accustomed to enduring extreme heat and humidity. The weather here in Kosovo has served a relief from Florida’s severely hot summers. But besides the weather the landscape here is breathtaking. Luscious green mountains can be seen touching the sky from all views, and the variety in plants and trees is something I am not used to seeing. I very much look forward to my stay here Preshtina for the next couple of years, and for my experience in this country to both broaden my perception and to evolve myself as a human being.

Before leaving for this trip in our first blog post we had to describe what we thought it would be like here in Kosovo. I really didn’t know what to expect, and I found as we spent the first week traveling through the Balkans that I imagined Kosovo to me more like the places we went in Albania. I imagined a lot of little markets and shops lining all of the roads. I expected to always see people on the streets walking around and going to shops, but found that where we are staying and where the AUK campus is located, it’s a quieter part of Pristina. There is still activity bustling all around but it doesn’t feel like its very busy or crowded. We’re more separated from the downtown area, which is where it gets busy during the day.

After spending this first week in Pristina and getting to walk around and get acquainted with the area, I feel pretty comfortable walking around by myself to go to the store to get snacks, or to go to the market and bakery for fresh fruits and pastries. It is also a bit more of a walk but going down to Mother Theresa Street is also nice to just walk around all of the shops.

The first week of classes at the RIT AUK campus was pretty good, but very busy. With it only being a five-week program, everything is go go go. It’s interesting taking a second class in Peacekeeping and conflict transformation besides the Documentary class; I’ve never taken a class on this topic before. It’s a very different kind of class than any I’ve taken at RIT for my major, but the content is still very interesting, especially since it is applicable to this region. This upcoming week we are starting our first project for our documentary class called the “Newborns” project. We are interviewing a person to explore what this generation in Kosovo is like and to see what their lives are like as a result of everything that’s happened in their country. With the ball rolling on this project, and our proposals set for our final project already, we are all going to be very busy but I’m so excited to make lots of great work in the process.

In the second part of the week interesting things have happened. First we got the assignment that need to be done about interview, the group of three people had to interview one another for 5 minutes. It was exciting, three people with different profession, it was chance to meet better each other as well know basics about profession and the country. Second interesting thing is that each group has got the person to do interview with and at the end of second week we have to make documentary about the person we got which is so exciting, is a chance to meet different people with different profession which is at some point presentation about the life in Kosovo.

 

Despite being the second largest massacre on European soil since the second World War, I don’t recall ever learning about the Srebrenica genocide in school. In July of 1995, 8,000 Bosnian boys and men were murdered by Serbian forces. I can only imagine complete chaos during a time where turmoil was at its peak; Bosnian refugees flooding the area, the sounds of suffering families in search of their loved ones, and the air filled with hatred and violence

Being in the exact area 20 years later was eye opening, emotional, and extremely informative. Viewing the personal items that were found across the area, showcased behind glass, was probably the most sentimental part of the entire visit. Boys as young as seventeen, murdered simply because of their ethnicity.

Our tour guide and a survivor, Hasan Hasanovic, shared with us his experience. “They didn’t care that we were unarmed. Their primary concern was that we were Muslim and they wanted us dead” he stated.

Hate is a very powerful human emotion that can lead people to do very evil and unimaginable inhumane acts. But love can lift the human spirit to endure pain, loss and struggle to become a survivor and a positive energy that can in turn heal the hearts of many. Love can help people to see the good in our differences, regardless of religion, gender or nationality. I am very grateful to have visited this memorial and take away what I have learned from my experience there.

– Brittainy Newman

 

During our weeklong trip throughout the Balkans, our group met with Prof. Dr. Vesel Memedi, the leader of the RDK political party in Macedonia. Part of what he discussed was the revolution that has taken place in Macedonia for about two months now, and all began with a wire tapping scandal. According to Prof. Dr. Vesel Memedi, the scandal was that the government wiretapped 26,000 cities and Macedonians started to make it public what the government had done. There was a lot of corruption on an enormous scale in Macedonia, not only with the wire tapping scandal but also with multiple killings that were kept hidden in the last ten years. The government in no way wanted to resign, so they insisted that they needed new elections. In the 25 years of Independence in Macedonia, they have never had fair and democratic elections.

I found this kind of revolution to very interesting, mostly because I’ve not once seen a colorful revolution such as this. When I first was walking around Skopje, I thought it was possible just graffiti all over the statues, fountains, and buildings. But as one of our tour guides later explained, I realized it was for a very different reason.

This revolution is known as “The Colorful Revolution” because so far it has consisted of protestors throwing paint on statues and government buildings all around Skopje, Macedonia. I find this topic very interesting and have decided to explore this topic more for my final project in this Documentary class. So far this revolution has not been violent and the police have not been very aggressive towards the protestors either, but Prof. Dr. Vesel Memedi said that this colorful revolution will not continue infinite, and that soon it could take a turn to a more violent side, and if it does that he hopes it will be a controlled violence. “I think two months has been enough for the revolution to take place” and I think “there will be another color and that color will be blood.” You cannot fight a revolution with colors, and I am excited to have the opportunity to learn more about this unique revolution with my work.

 

 

   Albania was a great place for us to explore. It was so fresh and new and full of new experiences for me. I just remember driving through the mountains the first day and being amazed by them. I’d never really been somewhere with that sort of terrain. It was all so beautiful. The trip was designed as a “cultural experience” and I believe it was definitely successful in doing so. I feel like I got to know the Albanian people well through our travels.

   The event that I feel taught me the most about the Albanian people was at the soccer game in Tirana, the capital, where Albania was playing Romania in the Eurocup. What I learned that night was how passionate the Albanian people are, and how much they feel for their country. It was really quite amazing to see the celebrations as Albania took the lead in the game, and ultimately win. I expected rioting like you’d see in many other cities during these sorts of games, but instead I saw ecstatic dance and song that lasted late into the night.

   They drove around the city in processions of celebration till after midnight; that’s some real national pride, and I was honestly pretty moved and inspired by it. People waved the Albanian flag high from early that day onward. I had never seen so much red in my life. Albanians are a beautiful people, energetic, passionate, and endearing. It was an honor to get the chance to see that country, and root for their team alongside them.

 

 

Though I am a photo student at RIT, I am absolutely clueless when it comes to documentary work, and that’s exactly why I took this class-to learn something completely out of my comfort zone.

When I came to RIT, I initially assumed I wanted to specialize in fashion photography, but the sexist and obnoxious ways we advertise things quickly pushed me away from wanting to pursue that sort of career, and I decided maybe I should switch to fine art photography. Before making the official decision to switch, I decided to take one fine art class, along with one advertising class just to make sure I make the right choice. Though I really liked the work I made in the fine art class, I was much more fond of the ad class once I discovered food photography.

After I became vegan in 2014 (after being a vegetarian since 2007) I became obsessed with cooking and food as a whole, but I never really thought of turning that love into a career. The ad class opened up the door for me, and I’ve officially decided to specialize in food photography. Now I am in the process of starting a vegan food blog with my sister, showcasing my work along with sharing recipes with the world.

 

In my spare time I don’t only like to photograph food, but I also create dark, fictional narratives responding to humans unique relationship with nature. My narrative inspiration comes from natural landscapes around me, which have a mysterious or uncanny aura about them, along with horror stories and the sense of the unknown.

In a perfect world, the subjects we wish to photograph would immediately want to tell us their stories and our lives would be easy.

But this isn’t a perfect world, our jobs are not easy, and that is what makes our work so rewarding in the end.

It isn’t easy for someone to understand why I want to sit with them and hear about their life and their stories. Part of what we have to do is communicate to them that they have a story to tell and that that story is worth being told.

We experienced our first problem to be solved today when we tried to contact our subject to set up a time and date for an interview. There seemed to be a miscommunication over the phone about who were and what our intentions were. This short interaction made me realize how much of an extra effort needs to be put into making people feel comfortable.

Our job as documentarians is to figure out a solution when we inevitably come across a problem. We face many challenges but it’s important to not let them get in the way of sharing someone’s story. I expected to face difficulties with the language barrier when we started working here, but I didn’t think we would have bumps in the road so soon.

In the end, it was all a learning experience that will better me as a person and as a photographer. I am still very excited to begin the Newborn project and hope to learn a lot from the generation living here!

Don’t always listen to what people tell you.

I don’t mean that in a rebellious way, but in a way that you retain your liberty, focus, and goals. There are plenty of times where someone will say your ideas, goals, or whatever you are trying to do is impossible, thus discouraging you from doing it. I don’t believe that anyone intends to cut us down, rather, they might just be rationalizing based off what they know. This is something that sort of just popped into my head as I was getting ready to write for the journal, and was also thinking about my day.

Yesterday someone told me that I might as well just save my time, and not bother looking into a story idea. Today, someone told me that it would be too difficult to get access to someone, and said I’d just have to wait for a response (I’m a journalist, we don’t wait). If I had taken that advice to heart, I would not have taken the steps forward I needed to keep working toward my goal with this story. At times people may say you will fail, and then you do. I’ve been told plenty that it’s ok to fail, but you have to fail trying your best, and pursuing every avenue, not just giving up because someone above you says you can’t do it.

This is more of a problem for me than it might be for other folks. I listen to what everyone has to say too much, and when I have too much conflicting advice, then I go a little haywire. So, I’m essentially writing this as a note to self: Obviously take credible advice, learn from what others know, but don’t stop pursuing your goals (big and small) until you know for sure, tested by you, that it would be better not to continue. Until then, keep on workin’.