Blog​

The Journey: Part I

by Mackenzie Reiss

 

"Inside These Walls" is a book about three Albanian war refugees living in an abandoned orphanage in Mitrovica, Kosovo. You will read their stories, see their faces, feel their pain. What you won’t read about is the journey it took to make this book possible. They say life is all about the journey, and the proverbial “they” are right. The choices we make, especially when others aren’t watching, define who we are. Bad or good, right or wrong. I made a choice after graduation not to work at a newspaper. I chose to bypass the 9-to-5 route and do what I loved to do: visual storytelling. I didn't want to cover the topics presented by daily mass media outlets. I wanted to document something that mattered to me- the after effects of war....

The Journey: Part II

by Mackenzie Reiss

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I packed my bags and spent nearly 4 months in Kosovo. I didn’t even know what language they spoke until my arrival. I communicated with complete strangers using hand gestures and a notebook for months. I lived without the comforts of 24/7 electricity, toilets, and familiar foods. A lot of the time I was alone. When I wasn’t shooting, I would wander from cafe to cafe, wishing I had something to read in English, or better yet- someone to speak with. The isolation left me depressed at times, but I knew that I could not give up on my work....