Thomas Krempke — Seeing the City Between Reality and Dream
Thomas Krempke is a Swiss photographer whose work moves between urban observation and poetic interpretation. His recent project in Albania, ENDERR (“Dream”), reflects this approach—capturing fragments of urban life, architecture, and transformation through a lens that feels both precise and elusive. In this conversation, we speak with him about his practice, his experience in Albania, and how photography can shape the way we understand cities.
© Thomas Krempke, Tirana New Boulevard, 2020
There are cities you can read clearly—and others that unfold slowly, somewhere between presence and perception. In Albania, the urban landscape often feels suspended between past and future, between rapid transformation and unfinished narratives. It is precisely within this in-between condition that Thomas Krempke positions his gaze.
A Swiss photographer with a distinct sensitivity to atmosphere and spatial ambiguity, Krempke does not simply document the city—he reframes it. His images invite us to pause, to question what we see, and to consider how architecture is experienced not only as form, but as mood, memory, and projection.
His latest project, ËNDËRR (“Dream”), developed in Albania, moves along this delicate line between the real and the imagined. Through fragments of streets, buildings, and everyday moments, the work constructs a quiet, introspective portrait of a country in flux.
We spoke with him about his photographic approach, his experience in Albania, and how images can reshape the way we understand urban space.
© Thomas Krempke, Durres 2020
Alketa Misja for Tatì Space: Hello Mr.Thomas! First of all, thank you very much for accepting the invitation to be interviewed by Tatì Space and sharing your work with our readers. Can you please tell us more about yourself? How did your journey into photography begin, and what drew you to urban and architectural subjects?
Your work lies between urban observation and poetic interpretation. You create visual narratives that go beyond simple documentation, inviting viewers to experience the city as an emotional landscape. How do you approach this tension between reality and representation in your images?
Thomas Krempke: I began making films at the age of 16 with a short film. At 22, I started studying Literature for two years, and then I attended Art School for Photography in Zurich from 1979 to 1983, as it was the closest field to cinematography, for which there was no school at the time. I have always been interested in places—where people live and how they live.
In 1980, I made a film with co-authors about house squatting in Zurich, during the 80-es movement of young artists for more cultural spaces in city. For the next 40 years, I made documentary films until 2008, when I returned to photography.
I began my first photography project, The Whispering of Things, as a photographic diary, but after two or three years I realized it had the potential to be developed more seriously, and it eventually became a photobook in 2016. The book is a diary of perception—how I perceive, what my gaze is, and what it means to look. There are no portraits in this work.
I started making portraits for the project Ëndërr, as I wanted from the beginning to include people. I attended a workshop in Arles with the well-known photographer Yann Rabanier to learn portraiture. I was always afraid of photographing people, but now I take pleasure in it.
As in all my projects, I do not aim to be too realistic. I want people to see reality differently after experiencing my photographs. It is all about perception.
©Thomas Krempke, Piramida of Dictator, Tirana 2022
©Thomas Krempke, Adriatik 2022
©Thomas Krempke, Adriatik School 2022
Tatì Space: From 5 years now you are photographing in Albania. Your recent project ËNDËRR was presented in the exhibition at Grupi ATA in Kamza, Tirana from March 26- April 16, 2026. What was the starting point or impulse behind this project?
The title ËNDËRR (dream) suggests a subjective or poetic layer—how does this idea translate into your visual language? What kind of spaces or urban conditions were you most interested in capturing in this series?
Thomas Krempke: The project on Albania began with my first visit in 2017. I was fascinated from the very beginning. What captured my interest was how the contrasts and contradictions of society are highly visible in the urban fabric. It is a post-communist society in transformation, but in some respects different from other Eastern European countries. Albania was very closed during the regime, and its openness to democracy and capitalism happened very quickly—almost like an explosion—which makes these contrasts and contradictions more visible than in other countries.
I began photographing during my second visit in 2019. I walked extensively through the city and was amazed by its chaotic development. For me, this was particularly interesting, because the houses and places seem to have stories to tell. There is the Boulevard and the Center, but the more you go out in periphery, the planning disappears.
©Thomas Krempke, Kamza 2021
©Thomas Krempke, Tirana New Constructions 2022
The first part of the project was exhibited in 2022 under the title “Shi bie në Tiranë” (It’s raining in Tirana) at Gallery Kriens. In 2023, part of the project was exhibited under the title “Today–Yesterday–After Tomorrow” at Galerie am Platz, Eglisau, Switzerland. However, the title of the photographic project has remained the same from the beginning: ËNDERR (Dream). It is exhibited under its original name for the first time here in Albania, at the premises of Group ATA in Kamza. The exhibition is supported by Group ATA and the Swiss Embassy in Tirana, to whom I am very grateful.
The title refers to the Albanian dream of finding fortune and happiness—either as an emigrant abroad or in the capital, Tirana. At the same time, it reflects the opposite dream of Central Europeans searching for an undiscovered, “authentic” tourist destination. What fascinated me was how these two dreams intersect in a place that no one quite knows how to locate. This is what I wanted to convey through my photographs from the very beginning.
During my research on Albania, I also noticed the word “dream” recurring everywhere—in novels, poems, and song lyrics—accompanying me like a leitmotif. I therefore decided it was a very fitting title for the project.
Interestingly, I have always been drawn to dreams. I dream frequently at night, and for a time I kept journals in which I wrote them down. I no longer do this. Instead, I photograph situations that feel contradictory, like dreams—where old and new, finished and unfinished, all come together in a non-rational way, such as in the image of the unfinished hotel in Golem with white columns.
©Thomas Krempke, White Colomns, Golem 2024
©Thomas Krempke, Tirana Zoo, 2022
Tatì Space: In your images appear different elements like informality, rapid development, layered histories, the past and the future both competing for supremacy in a place that is striving to live in the present (quoting you). Did you encounter specific urban phenomena that influenced your way of seeing or framing?
One of the poems that you have chosen for the Exhibition, that I like very much, is “Ënderr” of Visar Zhiti, written in 1982 during his political imprisonment in the infamous Spaçi prison. How does the idea of “dream” shape the way you see and photograph the people and places? How do you see the role of photography in shaping memory and understanding of urban space?
Thomas Krempke: The project is about individual dreams—about people who build their own dreams in their country. From the beginning, I wanted to make portraits of different people. I did not want to focus on immigration; it is an easy subject, and many others have already explored it. I was more interested in meeting people who have chosen to build a life here, often facing many difficulties.
©Thomas Krempke, Shengjin Theme Park, 2021
©Thomas Krempke, Shkodra 2024
While accompanying activists in their work, they showed me places such as Tropoja, Zall Gjocaj, Kamza and Bathore. The project “Tirana Riverside” in Lagja 5 Maji was probably the most important one, which I followed for quite some time. However, I was not there as a photojournalist. For my project, it is very important not to be too realistic or naturalistic. I want viewers to see reality differently after encountering my photographs. As in the book The Whispering of Things, I continue to explore the idea of perception—what it means to look and to perceive.
In some way, photographing in Albania has changed my way of seeing, because it is the first time I have worked on such an extensive project over five years. I have visited 16 times, and altogether I have spent more than one year. I have never immersed myself so deeply in a project in another country before. Now I look more precisely. Albania has become like a mirror, changing the way I see my own country.
©Thomas Krempke, New Constructions “Tirana Riverside” Project in 5 Maji Neighborhood, Tirana 2022
Demolition of informal housing in 5 Maji Neighborhood Tirana 2022
Sidorela, Portrait of Activist in 5 Maji Neighborhood, Tirana 2022
Tatì Space: What projects are you currently working on, or planning for the near future? Are there other cities or contexts you are interested in exploring next?
Finally, what advice would you give to young photographers who are interested in urban and architectural photography? How can they develop a critical voice rather than just a technical skillset?
Thomas Krempke: I want to publish the book ËNDËRR. For the past year, I have been working on completing the book, both in terms of photographs and text, and I hope to find a good editor. I am also planning a small project, which I hope to develop with a young musician, focused on the theme of perception of time.
In terms of urban themes, I would like to create a small project in my own city, approaching it with a new way of seeing, similar to the perspective I developed in Albania.
My advice for young photographers would be to look and to walk—and to use books and photobooks as a source of inspiration.
TatìSpace: Thank you very much for the interview, and I hope to see more of your work about Albania.
©Thomas Krempke, Durres Albania 2022
Exhibition ENDERR, at Grupi ATA in Kamza, Tirana from March 26- April 16, 2026
Leonard Qylafi
Leonard Qylafi (b. 1980) is an Albanian visual artist, whose practice explores several mediums such as photography, painting, video and music, where the theme of the City and its Architecture occupies a certain role. The Photography and Video Projects that reflect on the transformation of urban spaces are (real) ESTATE, Estate, Whispers & Shadows, Solo Show.
Leonard Qylafi (b. 1980) is an Albanian visual artist, whose practice explores several mediums such as photography, painting, video and music, where the theme of the City and its Architecture occupies a certain role. The Photography and Video Projects that reflect on the transformation of urban spaces are (real) ESTATE, Estate, Whispers & Shadows, Solo Show. Deeply linked with personal experience, Leonardi's artworks are a process of research and meditation between subjects and mediums. Since his graduation from the Academy of Fine Arts in Tirana, the Atelie of Painting 2003, Leonard Qylafi has been present in the local and international art scene. During the last years his works have been shown in several galleries and international events, such as: Centre de création contemporane, Olivier Debré, Tours-France (2021); Belvedere 21 Vienna, Austria (2019); NiMAC Cyprus (2018); National Gallery Tirana, Albania (2017); MuCEM, Marseilles, Izolyatsia, Kiev in (2016); The 55th October Salon, Belgrade (2014); Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin and Kunst Raum Riehen Basel/Switzerland (2012); MODEM Centre for Modern and Contemporary Arts, Debrecen, Hungary (2011); TICAB-Tirana International Biennial of Contemporary Art, Bjcm- XIII Biennal of young artists from Europe and Mediterranean, Puglia, Italy and ISCP- New York /USA in (2009) among other places. His work is published internationally and is collected by; The Albanian National Gallery of Art, MuCEM- Musée des Civilisations de l'Europe et de la Méditerranée, Marseille; Contemporary Art museum Belvedere 21, Vienna, video collection and several private collections. In 2017, Leonard Qylafi represented Albania in the 57th edition of the Venice Biennale, with the multidisciplinary project "Occcurrence in the Present Tense" curated by Vanessa Joan Müller. I am very pleased that Leonardi accepted to be interviewed for Tatì Space and talk about his projects in regarding Architecture and Urban Photography.
Alketa Misja for Tatì Space: Hello Leonard. You are a visual artist who explores several mediums, among them Photography and Video. What is the place Photography occupy in your artistic practice? How did you become interested in Urban and Architecture Photography?
Leonard Qylafi: My interest in photography came when I was studying at the Academy of Arts, in the painting atelie. Until then I had an art school education, focusing on drawing and painting. Photography was new to me and took time to master technically and use as a medium for special projects. What I can say is that it has had a huge impact on my practice as an artist either directly or indirectly and remains present in my work. Mainly, special projects that I have realized in photography have always been solutions started from a conceptual approach. In the case of urban photography, it has naturally been part of projects that focuse on urban transformations.
Tatì Space: What is your approach, in respect to Architecture and Urban Photography? You have several projects about the new construction in a rapidly growing city like Tirana. What is the idea, the concept behind these works?
Leonard Qylafi: I have been dealing with urban photography mainly in function of the artistic projects that I have developed. Around 2007-2011, urban space has taken an important place in my projects. The (Real) Estate and Estate projects are based entirely on photography, even though Estate is a photo animation turned into a video. Other projects always with the same theme have been in the form of videos such as Private Show or Whispers&Shadows. In each of them, a special aspect of the relationship we have with the space we live in is addressed, and in particular the idea of change and memory in relation to what we call Polis or city, as a complex entity and an expression of the culture and worldview of human society.
Tatì Space: How do you see the artistic scene in Albania in relation to Urban Photography? (if you can share an opinion). The photo can provoke a thought or nurture a discussion about city's problems. In this sense, what advice can you give to young photographers who want to explore urban and architecture photography?
Leonard Qylafi: Looking at the artistic scene in a general view, I can say that unfortunately there is a total lack of spaces, structures that are necessary for the promotion and exposure of art as a whole and of course contemporary photography. This makes it difficult to recognize and introduce new artist-photographers. The other part that makes it even more difficult, in the case of photography in particular, is its massification as a practice with the development of technology. It would be necessary to create special structures with a focus on photography. Regarding urban and architectural photography, I can say that Tirana today is a very rich subject to explore. I would suggest young photographers to see it as a unique opportunity on which to build their research either in terms of the city as a subject or architecture in particular.
Tatì Space: Thank you Leonard, We wish you all the best for your artistic plans and projects.
Below we give a summary of Leonard Qylafi's works, with regard to Urban and Architecture Photography, focused on theme of City and construction developments.
(real) ESTATE
(real) ESTATE, courtesy of Leonard Qylafi
The series of photographs were developed within a three year period and together with the video works Estate and Whispers & Shadows reflect on the transformation of the urban space in Tirana. In this particular project that was the starting point of my research on this topic the documentary style of photography plays the role of the critical awarnes of how the space is transformed. How a different ecomomic and political system overlapes a previous one. The greenhouse use to exist in suburb of Tirana during the communist regime and now is in a middle of a new neighborhood . This masive transformation more than having a shocking effects rises the question of how much do we participate as people living in a city. Do we decide how this city should be shaped to fit our needs ? Unfortunately the people don't play any role but the spectator.
Whispers & Shadows / 2011 / Video installation / Standard Pal 4:3 aspect with sound / 5:24 min/sec
Fragment from the Video installation “Whispers & Shadows” / 2011 / Standard Pal 4:3 aspect with sound / 5:24 min/sec. courtesy of Leonard Qylafi
The ambiance of the site introduces the viewer with the happening; constructions machines excavating in the ground covered by the darkness of the night. Their loud noises give place to a female voice reading selected text by Aristotle’s Politics. The verses which speak about Polis and the sense of living together sound utopia in the today machine-like model of urban centre where the role of the public seems to get eclipsed somehow. The ideal of living together, sharing the goods and the space sounds like millenniums away indeed, once the noise of the machines is firmly back.
ESTATE / 2007 / Video installation / Full HD (no sound) / 8:58 min/sec
Fragment from the Video installation ESTATE / 2007 , Full HD (no sound) / 8:58 min/sec courtesy of Leonard Qylafi
The silent animation lump numerous photographs making this way notes of the construction process of a massive building. The perceptive aspect of the process becomes a key element of the work. The physical time of a two year process of construction is concentrated in nine minutes of animation but it does so by challenging the viewer attention with an apparently freeze look.
Private show / 2006 / Video installation / Standard Pal 4:3 / Music by Leonard Qylafi / 3:19 min/sec
Fragment from the Video installation “ Private show”, 2006, Standard Pal 4:3 / Music by Leonard Qylafi / 3:19 min/sec. courtesy of Leonard Qylafi
The relations we have with places is very complex and somehow impossible to describe in words. In Tirana where I live is very usual to see buildings demolished for building new ones. This violent transformation impacts the life of people living in the city. When you see that a building that you know is demolished the kind of shock you experience can not be described. This was also the case with the building that becomes the stage of my performance. I go there and play a short music piece I have composed as a memoriam to the relation I use to have with that place
To see more about author’s work on his website: www.leonardqylafi.com