- ARCHIVESKOSOVOYOUGOSLAVIA

1969 Kosovo

“The Beat Generation” on the Paths to Kathmandu

Text in English, French and Albanian after the pictures

Voici donc pour commencer , des images du Kosovo en 1969 en particulier au Kosovo,  à Pec

I have lost many originals , (6×6 negatives) but I still have the prints

with my Mamya C33 camera and a Lunasix III. I was 17.

In some days i will reach Turkey and Istanbul. images are coming

La “Beat Generation” sur les chemins de Katmandou 

part 1 Kossovo

En 1969, j’ai décidé de me lancer dans mon tout premier voyage, sans un sou en poche. 

j’avais à peine 17 ans. j’étais en classe de première au lycée, je n’avais même pas passé mon bac.

Le 1er août de cette année-là, je me suis présenté porte de Vincennes avec une idée en tête: rejoindre Katmandou en stop. 

À l’époque, cela semblait être un rêve impossible à réaliser, 

mais J’avais travaillé dur toute l’année en écaillant des poissons sur les marchés le dimanche matin pour seulement 5 francs, puis en usine à Survilliers où je gagnais 2,42 francs de l’heure. 

j’ai pu m’acheter un appareil photo Mamiya C33 et une cellule Lunasix, que l’on peut voir sur la photo, expliquant ainsi ce format carré que j’ai toujours apprécié.

C’était  un an après 1968, notre imagination avait explosé et nos rêves ont commencé à prendre forme. Mon rêve, pas très original, était de voyager loin, jusqu’au bout du monde. 

À cette époque, les boomers ne prenaient pas l’avion, nous préférions plutôt nous lancer sur les routes, en auto-stop ou en bus. Les guides de voyage n’existaient pas encore ; les premiers guides ne verront le jour qu’en 1973.

Cette année-là, je n’ai pu dépasser Erzurum, la dernière grande ville à l’est de la Turquie, car la rentrée scolaire approchait début septembre. 

(Mais l’année suivante, je finirais par atteindre Katmandou).

Pour commencer, voici une première série d’images que j’ai enfin scannées parmi des centaines d’autres… 

Des images du Kosovo. un endroit qui m’avait marqué , je ne saurai dire pourquoi.

En 1969, le Kosovo n’existait pas encore en tant qu’entité indépendante ; c’était simplement une province de la Yougoslavie dirigée par Tito. 

J’ai pris cette route car je rêvais simplement de pénétrer en Albanie, un pays communiste totalement fermé à l’époque. 

J’ai donc longé la frontière du pays en rêvant. Je dormais au bord des routes, dans mon sac de couchage, je n’avais qu’une angoisse, me faire voler mon appareil photo..

Ce n’est qu’en 1981 que je réaliserai mon premier reportage en Albanie, sous le régime d’Enver Hoxha, en me faisant passer pour un “touriste marxiste-léniniste”.

dans le prochain chapitre : 

La suite, ma première découverte de l’Orient, mon arrivée à Istanbul en août 1969.

“The Beat Generation” on the Paths to Kathmandu

Part 1: Kosovo

In 1969, I decided to embark on my very first journey, without a penny to my name. I was barely 17 years old, in my first year of high school, and I hadn’t even taken my baccalaureate exams.

On August 1st of that year, I showed up at the Porte de Vincennes with an idea in mind: to hitchhike my way to Kathmandu. At the time, it seemed like an impossible dream. However, I had worked hard throughout the year, scaling fish at the markets on Sunday mornings for only 5 francs, and later at a factory in Survilliers, where I earned 2.42 francs per hour. With my earnings, I was able to buy a Mamiya C33 camera and a Lunasix light meter, which can be seen in the photo, explaining the square format that I’ve always appreciated.

It was a year after 1968, when our imagination had exploded and our dreams began to take shape. My dream, not very original, was to travel far, to the ends of the earth. Back then, the “boomers” didn’t take flights; we preferred hitting the roads, hitchhiking or taking buses. Travel guides didn’t exist yet; the first guides would only be published in 1973.

That year, I could only make it as far as Erzurum, the easternmost city in Turkey, as the school year was starting in early September. (But the following year, I would eventually reach Kathmandu).

To start off, here’s a first series of images that I’ve finally scanned from among hundreds of others… Images from Kosovo, a place that had left a mark on me, though I couldn’t quite say why. In 1969, Kosovo didn’t yet exist as an independent entity; it was simply a province of Yugoslavia under Tito’s rule.

I took that route because I simply dreamed of entering Albania, a completely closed communist country at the time. So, I traveled along the country’s border, dreaming. I slept by the roadside in my sleeping bag, with only one fear: that my camera might get stolen.

It wasn’t until 1981 that I would undertake my first reportage in Albania, under the regime of Enver Hoxha, disguising myself as a “Marxist-Leninist tourist.”

Next, my first encounter with the Orient, my arrival in Istanbul in August 1969.

In the next chapter:

So, to start off, here are some images from Kosovo in 1969, particularly in Peja.

Generata “Beat” në rrugët e Katmandut

Pjesa 1: Kosova

Në vitin 1969, vendosa të nisja në udhëtimin tim të parë, pa një lek në xhep. Isha shumë i ri, vetëm 17 vjeç. Isha në klasën e parë të shkollës së mesme, dhe nuk kisha as kaluar provimin e diplomës së shkollës së mesme.

Më 1 gusht të atij viti, paraqita tek porta e Vincennes me një ide në mendje: të shkoja drejt Katmandut duke marrë stop. Në atë kohë, dukej si një ëndërr e pamundur për t’u realizuar,

por unë kisha punuar fort gjatë gjithë vitit duke hequr lëkurën e peshkut në tregjet të dielën për vetëm 5 franka, pastaj në një fabrikë në Survilliers ku fitoja 2,42 franka në orë. Kështu, pata mundësi të bleja një kamerë Mamiya C33 dhe një qelizë Lunasix, të cilat mund t’u shihen në fotografi, duke shpjeguar kështu formatin katrore që gjithmonë kam vlerësuar.

Ishte një vit pas 1968, kur imagjinata jonë kishte shpërthyer dhe ëndrrat tona filluan të marrin formë. Ëndrra ime, e pabesueshme shumë, ishte të udhëtoja larg, deri në fund të botës.

Në atë kohë, “boomer”-at nuk udhëtonin me avion, ne më shumë preferonim të niseshim në rrugë, duke marrë stop ose autobus. Guidat e udhëtimit ende nuk ekzistonin; guidat e parë do të dalin në dritë vetëm në vitin 1973.

Atë vit, nuk arrita më larg se Erzurumi, qyteti i fundit i madh në lindje të Turqisë, pasi fillimi i vitit shkollor po afronte fillimin e shtatorit. (Por vitin e ardhshëm, do të arrita në Katmandu në fund).

Për të filluar, këtu është një seri e parë e fotove që tani i kam skanuar nga qindra të tjera…

Fotografi nga Kosova, një vend që më kishte lënë një ndjesi, edhe pse nuk mund të them pse. Në vitin 1969, Kosova ende nuk ekzistonte si një entitet i pavarur; ishte thjesht një provincë e Jugosllavisë nën udhëheqjen e Titos.

E zgjodha atë rrugë sepse thjesht ëndëroja të hynja në Shqipëri, një vend komunist

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Michel Setboun

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