Dede Jakova, commemorated in the Month of Photography, is an important name of Albanian photography.

Dede Jakova was born in Shkodra in 1914, in a family of intellectuals. He took his first lessons at Saverian College, while he received his mastery of photography from Kel Marubi. In 1932 he opened his studio “Photo Jakova”. He also made postcards and was the first photographer to accompany climbers to the highest peaks of the Albanian Alps.

Most of the photographs taken in Shkodra are permeated by strong ideological and political changes: from the images of the monarchy, to the fascist influence and to the consolidation of the communist regime.
Despite the strong pressure of the regime, Dede Jakova was the last to close the private photography studio, to join the state cooperative of artisans.

/Klara Ruci/