Welcome, and thank you for visiting my photography space on the web. I believe that is never too late to start something you always wanted to do as long as the passion is still alive!
I love the challenges photography throws at me every time I use the camera! Every photoshoot is different, the settings, the environments, the lightning conditions. I can’t wait to capture the next shot, to tell a story through photographs!
I apply my work ethic and discipline acquired through years of experience, to every photography project I take on. No matter how big of small the client or project, I always conduct myself with utmost professionalism.
I am Ed Dalipi. Since early in my childhood I was surrounded by arts and creativity. By the way, I was born and grew up in Albania. My dad an artistic painter, was always with the palette and brush on his hand, and my brother who became a sculptor, either with pencil on his hand drawing sketches of the neighbourhood kids or carving stone with a hammer and chisel. It was all about colours, shapes and music notes. I admired my grandfather’s detailed drawings of trees and landscapes. I spent hours going through renaissance art books, admiring the extraordinary works of Italian and other European artists. From Michelangelo to Rubens to Leonardo, I often used to stare at the extraordinary detailed works of art for hours, trying to imagine the amount of work put into each piece of art, the patience and persistence, not to mention the talent . You would think that growing up surrounded by the visual arts influence, I would have taken on painting or sculpting! Not really! I, of course spent a lot of time drawing and painting in my youth. I remember, painting with water colours was a real challenge if I didn’t have the visual in your mind first, but I was able to express myself better using oil on canvas.
However, I chose a different direction…music! I first began learning music when I was 8 years old, when I took violin, at an after school program! The first thing I was told was that I needed to start practicing 1 hour each day! The only problem was that I didn’t have a violin, but still managed to practice! Really! How? I practiced one hour every day using two cylindrical sticks, each 1 inch in diameter. The stick that represented the violin, I would lean it on my left shoulder, tightening it with my chin, and the other representing the bow would move across rubbing to the other stick! I did that for about a month! It was the most boring sound and experience for an 8 year old! Why am I saying all this? Well, one thing that exercise did was planted the seed and taught me patience and work ethic. Later on I obviously got a real violin and spent 2 years learning to play until I switched to clarinet in grade 5. At that time at the age of 10 I had developed a pretty good work ethic. When my clarinet professor handed me the first assignment to learn breathing using the diaphragm, I new I had to put a significant work to it! I would basically lay down on a table flat on my stomach, place a pillow on my lower back, hold it with my hands and start breathing and releasing the breath slowly to learn how to manage the air better. My lower back would raise every time I took a breath and I would hold my hands in my back to feel it going down as I released the air. I practiced the clarinet for 7-8 hours each day, until my inner lower lip was bruised and my right thumb was numb. I remember as kids at school, we used to ask each other to show who had a deeper bruise in the inner lip! It was an indication of who spent more hours practicing! Sounds crazy, doesn’t it!
Why am I telling you about all of this? Because all that exposure to visual arts, helped me see the world, people from a different angle, all the work I did when I was younger has helped me build a strong work ethic and discipline. Rest assured that I put the same dedication to my photography work. Photography is not about having fancy gear and equipment but rather creating that thought-provoking composition. I am excited to live at a time when the photography as an art form is trying to rise again.