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Hasanaj: Photographer / Filmmaker
"I Live for film and photo. I always did, and always will do". Photo and film are a constant in the life of Besnik Hasanaj. As a teenager he represented Kosovo on multiple occassions at the annual filmcompetition for young, talented filmmakers in ex-Yugoslavia.
During the turbulent 1980's and 1990's of the last century he documented the horrific human rights violations that were committed by the Yugoslav-Serbian regime in Kosovo - a part of this material found its way to international organisations. This formed the basis for his professional career, and in the 1990s and the beginning of the 21st century, journalism and documentary photography and film formed the core of his professional activities. Unfortunately, the majority of his pre-war work in Kosovo has been lost during the war.
During the 1990s he was forced to seek refuge in Germany, where he played an active role as cameraman and photographer within the Kosovar-Albanian human righs movement. This movement sought to put the humanitarian crisis in Kosovo to the attention of the international community, and actively engaged in manifestations, demonstrations, and lobbying.
After the war in Kosovo (1999) he has produced a lot of work for various (international) organisations, institutions, government bodies and NGOs, both pro-deo (without payment - as a contribution to the reconstruction and rehabilitation of kosovo) as commissioned, (clients include: UNDP, UNHCR, the Netherlands Embassy, IKV Pax Christi, CARITAS, CARE, NATO-KFOR, Stichting Keyserskinderen Breda, and many more). Apart from this, he produced varous documentaries and videos for the same wide variety of clients, again both pro-deo as well as commissioned. Apart from his freelance work he has been employed as a journalist and cameraman for various national and regional TV stations and news agencies (including Kosova Press, TV M1, and RTK), and as photographer with a.o. Balkan Press Photo Agency, M-Magazine, and Community Building Mitrovica (NGO).
In the past ten years, he has taken part in various professional training courses and workshops in the areas of photography, film/video, and editing, including at Reuters Foundation, Deutsche Welle Academy, Kosovo Institute of Journalism and Communication (KIJAC), and Fridtjof Nanssen Academy (Noorway). He also provided training and professional coursees to both youths and professionals in Kosovo.
During this post-war period, he got the opportunity to deepen his passion for experimental and artistic photography, and he developed into a photographer with an eye for unique perspective, inventiveness, and individuality. He started to develop his own characteristic style, which has already been celebrated at various exhibitions in Albania, Kosovo, the Netherlands, and Macedonia. His artistic works are often very expressionistic, emotional, and communicate the artists' spirt and feelings to his audience. The image touch the viewer, make contact, and draw them into an aesthetic world where art and photography come together in an expression of emotion and beauty.
Besnik Hasanaj is a multi-disciplinary, broadly talented and experienced audiovisual mediaspecialist with over 15 years of international experience in the areas of media, photography, videography and film in Kosovo, Albania, Macedonia, the Netherlands, Norway, and Germany.
"I Live for film and photo. I always did, and always will do". Photo and film are a constant in the life of Besnik Hasanaj. As a teenager he represented Kosovo on multiple occassions at the annual filmcompetition for young, talented filmmakers in ex-Yugoslavia.
During the turbulent 1980's and 1990's of the last century he documented the horrific human rights violations that were committed by the Yugoslav-Serbian regime in Kosovo - a part of this material found its way to international organisations. This formed the basis for his professional career, and in the 1990s and the beginning of the 21st century, journalism and documentary photography and film formed the core of his professional activities. Unfortunately, the majority of his pre-war work in Kosovo has been lost during the war.
During the 1990s he was forced to seek refuge in Germany, where he played an active role as cameraman and photographer within the Kosovar-Albanian human righs movement. This movement sought to put the humanitarian crisis in Kosovo to the attention of the international community, and actively engaged in manifestations, demonstrations, and lobbying.
After the war in Kosovo (1999) he has produced a lot of work for various (international) organisations, institutions, government bodies and NGOs, both pro-deo (without payment - as a contribution to the reconstruction and rehabilitation of kosovo) as commissioned, (clients include: UNDP, UNHCR, the Netherlands Embassy, IKV Pax Christi, CARITAS, CARE, NATO-KFOR, Stichting Keyserskinderen Breda, and many more). Apart from this, he produced varous documentaries and videos for the same wide variety of clients, again both pro-deo as well as commissioned. Apart from his freelance work he has been employed as a journalist and cameraman for various national and regional TV stations and news agencies (including Kosova Press, TV M1, and RTK), and as photographer with a.o. Balkan Press Photo Agency, M-Magazine, and Community Building Mitrovica (NGO).
In the past ten years, he has taken part in various professional training courses and workshops in the areas of photography, film/video, and editing, including at Reuters Foundation, Deutsche Welle Academy, Kosovo Institute of Journalism and Communication (KIJAC), and Fridtjof Nanssen Academy (Noorway). He also provided training and professional coursees to both youths and professionals in Kosovo.
During this post-war period, he got the opportunity to deepen his passion for experimental and artistic photography, and he developed into a photographer with an eye for unique perspective, inventiveness, and individuality. He started to develop his own characteristic style, which has already been celebrated at various exhibitions in Albania, Kosovo, the Netherlands, and Macedonia. His artistic works are often very expressionistic, emotional, and communicate the artists' spirt and feelings to his audience. The image touch the viewer, make contact, and draw them into an aesthetic world where art and photography come together in an expression of emotion and beauty.
Besnik Hasanaj is a multi-disciplinary, broadly talented and experienced audiovisual mediaspecialist with over 15 years of international experience in the areas of media, photography, videography and film in Kosovo, Albania, Macedonia, the Netherlands, Norway, and Germany.
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