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or many photographers,
Magnum Photos is seen as
the gold standard. The
legendary agency, whose
co-founders include Henri
Cartier-Bresson and Robert Capa, is the
most prestigious in the world. And being
selected to join Magnum was something
that Albanian photographer Enri Canaj
aspired to, when he was fortunate enough
to spend a year studying with Magnum’s
Nikos Economopoulos in 2007.
“I became familiar with Nikos’ work
while I was a student,” explains Canaj.
“After finishing my studies, I heard about
the workshop that Nikos was doing inAthens. His work inspired me as a
photographer, and being accepted in his
workshop at the time was something that
had a huge influence for me – not only as
a young photographer but as a young man
as well. I attended the whole year, and it had
a significant inspiration to pursue my career
and develop myself as a photographer.”
The two share a passion for documenting
migration: Economopoulos photographed
the first wave of migrants crossing the
Albanian-Greek border in the early 1990s –
including Canaj himself, who made the
journey from Tirana to Athens in 1991.
“I left Albania when I was 11 and returned as
an adult when I was 21. But through Nikos’
work, I had the opportunity to travel back
to Albania before I went to visit it in person.
“Nikos’ images from my country were
taken in the period when I left together with
my family. Those pictures were not only
visually familiar, but I could sense the smell
of some of the places he had photographed.
The only thing that hadn’t changed when
I went back after 10 years was the morning’s
smell; it was exactly the same as many
years ago.”
Canaj retains the same passion today, as
a Magnum Photographer in his own right,photographing the migrant crisis. “After
almost three decades I’ve documented
migrants reaching Europe. In recent years
the Balkans have become the main stage
for the first wave of people trying to reach
central and western Europe.
“It’s a place where you can see people
living in another dimension. High adrenaline.
Exhaustion. Deep breaths, because they
were alive. Hope, because they managed to
touch Europe with one foot. Strength and
determination, to continue the journey and
jump into the final destination with both
feet. People on the run, with no time to
stop and think. The arrival of hundreds of
thousands of people is a historical change
for Europe. And to me, all this was very
familiar. Their present was walking in
parallel with my past.”
From the Balkans to his latest assignment
photographing human transit in Niger, there
is a constant in Canaj’s photography: his
Olympus equipment. “For most of my work
and personal projects, I use Olympus’
flagship OM-D E-M1 series cameras, with
the M.Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8 PRO and
M.Zuiko 17mm f/1.8 Premium lenses.”
For a photojournalist constantly on the
move in challenging conditions, Olympus’Documenting
European migrants
Award-winning photojournalist Enri Canaj shares his experience
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Enri Canaj
Magnum photographer
Born in Tirana, Albania in 1980, Canaj has
been a freelance photojournalist since
2008 for outlets like Time, CNN, The Wall
Street Journal and The Financial Times.
An award-winning photographer, he
started using Olympus cameras in 2013.