Kel Kodheli (better known as Kel Marubi) (1870–13 March 1940) was an Albanian photographer. He was the father of Geg Marubi.

Life

Kel Kodheli began his study of

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

at the age of 15. During the 1920s, he studied in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

at the first school of photography and cinema founded by the

Lumière brothers Lumière is French for 'light'. Lumiere, Lumière or Lumieres may refer to: * Lumières, the philosophical movement in the Age of Enlightenment People *Auguste and Louis Lumière, French pioneers in film-making Film and TV * Institut Lumière, ...

, and worked as a professional photographer in Shkodra from the late 1920s to 1952. He pioneered working with celluloid instead of glass plate. Kel Kodheli was an assistant to Italian photographer Pietro Marubi. After Pietro's death, Kodheli changed his name to Kel Marubi and became the owner of Marubi's photography studio. He photographed the Albanian political leaders of the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, as well as common people and

landscapes A landscape is the visible features of an area of Terrestrial ecoregion, land, its landforms, and how they integrate with Nature, natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionar ...

. Kel was an ardent

patriot A patriot is a person with the quality of patriotism. Patriot may also refer to: Political and military groups United States * Patriot (American Revolution), those who supported the cause of independence in the American Revolution * Patriot m ...

and was active in the

Albanian National Awakening The Albanian National Awakening ( sq, Rilindja or ), commonly known as the Albanian Renaissance or Albanian Revival, is a period throughout the 19th and 20th century of a cultural, political and social movement in the Albanian history where the ...

, taking part in the foundation of many associations related to

Albanian language Albanian ( endonym: or ) is an Indo-European language and an independent branch of that family of languages. It is spoken by the Albanians in the Balkans and by the Albanian diaspora, which is generally concentrated in the Americas, Europ ...

, as well as publishing ''Voice of Shkodra'' newspaper in 1908. Kel Marubi became well known abroad as well. He was invited to photograph the Royal Family of the

King of Montenegro King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

. In 1970, his entire estate of 150,000 negatives was purchased by the

Government of Albania Albania is a Unitary state, unitary Parliamentary system, parliamentary Republic, constitutional republic, where the President of Albania is the head of state and the Prime Minister of Albania the head of government in a multi-party system. The e ...

, to be conserved in the national archive. Published photo albums of Marubi's work, include: ''"Gjurmë të Historisë Kombëtare në Shkodër" - Photograph Library'' ("Traces of National History in Shkodra"), 1982, and ''"By the Lumière"'', published in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. The first Albanian film school was named ''"Academy of Film and Multimedia Marubi"'', in honor of Marubi family and its work, as film and photography pioneers in western

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

Gallery

References

External links

Official Website of Marubi Academy of Film and Multimedia
Albanian photographers 1870 births 1940 deaths {{europe-photographer-stub de:Marubi#Kel Marubi