Gjon Mili and the art of the frozen moment: the Korça-born photographer's retrospective continues at the Marubi Museum

The exhibition “Gjon Mili. Retrospective” remains open to the public at the Marubi National Museum of Photography, ATSH reports. Visitors can see it every day from 09:00 to 19:00.

The retrospective is dedicated to the Albanian-American photographer who, according to the exhibition's presentation, revolutionized motion photography and made a major contribution to bringing art and science together.

Light, motion and the moment

Through experiments with light, motion and the camera, Mili managed to capture moments lasting only a fraction of a second. Sports photography holds a special place in the exhibition, where athletes' movements, spectacular leaps and bodily energy become artistic compositions.

From Korça to “Life”

Gjon Mili was born in Korça on Nov. 28, 1904, and died in Stamford, Connecticut, on Feb. 14, 1984. From 1939 until the end of his life he worked as a photographer for the American magazine “Life,” which published thousands of his pictures over more than four decades. He died of pneumonia at the age of 79.

He worked with MIT engineer Harold Edgerton and was among the pioneers of using stroboscopic light to capture a sequence of movements in a single photograph. Mili also directed the short film “Jammin' the Blues” (1944), featuring saxophonist Lester Young and other jazz musicians. For “Life” he also photographed Pablo Picasso, an assignment that took him to the French Riviera. In 2008 the Albanian Post honored him with a postage stamp dedicated to his life, 1904–1984. The film was made at the Warner Bros. studios.