2. Dust falls through the temporarily shuttered Kombinati Metalurjik.

Landscape shot of small towns and farms in Albania. About 70% of Albania is mountainous. Albanians have had a close connection to the land and agriculture for most of their past. Today, food production is still strongly centered around family farming, and it is the only country in Europe to rely largely on small-scale domestic production. But production and exports are down, and there is a worker shortage as the country faces massive migration out of the country, particularly among the youth.

Fatmir harvests olives on the family's land, likely for the last time. My grandparents grow oranges, grapes, olives, pomegranates, and other food and fruit to sustain themselves and earn extra income. As they grow older, the land is deteriorating due to lack of consistent care. There is no one left to take care of it, as both their children and all grandchildren live abroad.

The olives from the family harvest will be used to make olive oil, a household essential, with any extra bottles sold for surplus income. Like many older Albanians, my grandparents grew up with a strong connection to the land and agriculture, both coming from farmer families and meeting each other on a collective farm they worked at. Micro-farming still dominates the country, influenced by the Communist regime's strict adherence to complete self-sufficiency. Under Enver Hoxha, Albania's Communist dictator, it was illegal for the number of imports to ever surpass the number of exports, and after Hoxha cut ties with the USSR and China, self-sufficiency became more of a necessity than an ideological belief.

Protesters throw Molotov cocktails at government buildings in Albania's capital. The mayor of Tirana is involved in a big corruption scandal, and protesters want him to resign. Corruption is a massive problem in Albania, with leading figures from both main political parties arrested and charged with bribery, money laundering, and using their offices for personal financial gain. The path to democracy and capitalism has been anything but smooth for Albania.

My grandma lights a candle at a Bektashi tekke in her rural hometown in the mountains of Albania, as a form of prayer. The Bektashis are a Sufi Islamic order known for their tolerance and liberal approach to Islam. Albania was a part of the Ottoman empire, and as such is one of the few majority-Muslim countries in Europe. However, religion was outlawed during Communism, with many mosques destroyed or converted into schoolhouses. Albania's Communist dictator, Enver Hoxha, declared Albania the first atheist country, and although it is still a secular state, he failed to completely eradicate religion.

A silhouette portrait of my grandpa, Fatmir, pictured in the bar he opened after the fall of communism. Previously, private establishments were outlawed. The bar has now closed down due to lack of business and sits empty.

A vintage TV set sits unused. During communism, families had similar interior furniture and decorations, in order to align with the ideals of equality and oneness.

Enver Hoxha's portrait sits framed in one of the many bunkers he built in fear of Western invasion during the Cold War. Over 750,000 bunkers are spread out across Albania. The Communists in Albania are credited with socioeconomic progress in the first 15 years of their rule and the country’s transformation from a feudal, clan-based country into a modern state with the eradication of malaria, a successful drive against illiteracy, the expansion of health services, and the development of industry. However, Hoxha led with an iron fist, greatly inspired by Stalin, imprisoning and persecuting thousands of his political opponents and innocent people, and completely closing off Albania's borders and isolating the country.

Archival photographs from my grandpa's past, showcasing his time as a member of Albania's Communist Party. He was born into a poor farmer family, like many Albanians, and joined the party's youth division at an early age, and slowly rose through the ranks. He received a full-ride scholarship to study Marxism at the graduate level at the Communist Party's university. The party even sent him to China for a year to learn from their industrial practices in the hopes of improving Albania's factory production.

Fatmir smokes a cigarette in a local bar in Elbasan.

Young boys play outside an old building from the Communist era.

A caged bird looks out the window in Elbasan, Albania.

Fatmir and his grandson on one of the last days before his grandson leaves his hometown to go back to Italy, where he now lives.

A young boy dives into thermal hot springs in my grandma's hometown of Permet, now a major tourist attraction. Tourists flock to Albania, while the youth do everything they can to leave. Nearly 1/3 of Albania's population has left since the fall of communism.

Fatmir's granddaughter Inis, on a horse in her hometown of Elbasan. She, like many of Albania's youth, has immigrated to Italy in search of a better life.

My grandpa Fatmir at the entrance of the pool he would take me to as a child. The pool and surrounding grounds now sit abandoned.

A woman sells hand-knit shirts on the street leading to a big tourist attraction in Gjirokaster, a mountain town in Albania home to Albania's former dictator Enver Hoxha. She tells me she struggles to make ends meet, and lives in poverty.

The sun rises and clears the morning frost on my family's land in Elbasan. This plot of land belonged to my grandpa's father -- it was then collectivized by the Communist state and used to grow tomatoes and other vegetables, before it was returned to the family after the fall of Communism. Now there is no one left to take care of it.