I first met Jutta Benzenberg-Klosi five years ago at a dinner party and followed it up with what remains one of my favourite interviews of all time. I remember arriving at her house and her asking me if I had prepared the questions.
When I said no, adding that I preferred to let the conversation flow naturally, she was irritated and said I had not prepared properly. Undeterred, I carried on, and after around two and a half hours of conversation, she looked and smiled at me, saying, “You just interviewed me, didn’t you?”.
Since then, we have become great friends, worked together on projects, inspired each other (mainly her inspiring me), and debated and discussed the country’s state (good and bad).
But in those five years of admiring her photography, I never took the plunge to get my portrait done by her. Perhaps I was slightly scared or intimidated by seeing her portraits of others; I observed her uncanny way of peeling back people’s layers and looking right into their souls. To be unveiled in all my vulnerable glory was something that I feared a bit, but eventually, I decided to ask her to take my photo.
I arrived at her airy, stylish house in central Tirana, and she led me to her studio, which opens onto a balcony flanked with flowers and art and flooded with natural light.
At first, I felt incredibly self-conscious. My mouth was pursed shut, and my eyes felt like a deer caught in the headlights. But soon, I began to relax and felt utterly lost with the lens, unaware of anything except what Jutta asked me to do. She has an uncanny way of making you relax, so much so that I did not even realise that I was shedding all my inhibitions, insecurities and fears.
Every suggestion she made, I welcomed, and I did not have a shred of the nerves that I did before. Having done other photoshoots before, I can say that my experience with Jutta was completely different- intimate but unintimidating, friendly, and, most of all, empowering. Her words of encouragement and genuine enthusiasm as she saw the pictures were also a big part of building my confidence throughout the shoot.
When the session finished, I was worried that I had not expressed any emotion in my poses. It felt like she had taken many pictures, but that my face remained the same, but when I saw the first images, I could not believe it.
Do not get me wrong, I am not being arrogant and saying I look amazing. Rather, I am saying that she captured parts of my personality that I didn’t know I had, or that I thought were well hidden.
Doing the photoshoot with Jutta was not a pride project or a simple portrait photoshoot, it was an exploration of myself and my character to see a side of me I didn’t know I had. When it came to sharing the photos, I was immensely proud. Again, not because I thought I looked amazing, but rather because I think she told a story in the way she captured me.
Judge for yourself!
Jutta Benzenberg Klosi first visited Albania in 1991 with the Albanian writer Ardian Klosi, taking photos of the country during those first crucial moments of transition. She published a book with Klosi in 1993, followed by another in 2004. Over the years, she has exhibited her work on Albania in Germany, France, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Albania, Kosovo, Greece, Montenegro, Serbia, and the US. Supporters and patrons of her projects include UN Women, the German Embassy in Tirana, the Austrian Embassy in Tirana, Swiss Foundation DEZA, and Goethe Institut Mailand, amongst others.
In 2013-2014, she was the official photographer of Prime Minister Edi Rama, widely credited with bringing a new approach to political photography in Albania which included creativity and letting the personality shine through.
You can see her portfolio of portraits here Benzenberg Portraits
Visit her website here
Visit her photography page here
To be a part of her work and get your portrait taken, her contact details are here
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