Photography has been the thread running through my life—sometimes clear, sometimes tangled, but always there, pulling me forward.
While photography remains at the core of my practice, my work has gradually evolved into a more experimental and tactile form of expression. I now blend photographic processes with mixed-media techniques—exploring the layered textures of memory, time, and transformation. In recent years, I’ve focused on hand-printing, using textured papers, surface manipulation, and physical mark-making to create work that invites reflection, not just viewing.
My journey began in the early nineties, when I moved from the Balkans to London. In 1999, I returned to Kosova during the war with a basic camera, a few rolls of film, and a strong need to document what was happening. That body of work became Kosova 1999, a raw and deeply personal book of photographs.
After that, I spent many years working in journalism and documentary production—as a video editor, camera operator, and edit producer. I covered the war in Iraq, and collaborated with BIRN, the UN, Alsat TV, Al Jazeera, the BBC, and independent productions across the UK.
Although photography remained a constant, it’s only recently that I’ve started sharing my personal, artistic work publicly. In 2020, my image Silent Covid Morning—taken in London during the first lockdown—was awarded Isolation Landscape Winner in the Landscape Photographer of the Year (UK). That quiet, emptied-out moment captured something I had been searching for in my work for a long time. It gave me the confidence to continue exploring a more poetic and open-ended visual language.
I’m now developing a new landscape book and a long-term visual study of London Bridge. My work continues to focus on what fades, what lingers, and the subtle presence of what we often overlook.
Besnik Mehmeti
Born: 1971
Birthplace: Skopje, Northern Macedonia
Living and working in London, UK
Published work:
1990 Kosova conflict
Evening Standard
Scotsman
Irish times
Die welt
Top Hotel
2016 Iraq War
Documentary
AlJazeera
Selected Exhibitions:
2018 Bromley Library, London UK
Bromley Camera Club annual exhibition
2019 Bromley Library London UK
Bromley Camera Club annual exhibition
2019 Ross Cup 2019 Award winners exhibition
Kent County Photographic Association, UK
2019 O.S.D. London UK
2020 Award winners Landscape Photographer of the Year’ UK Tour
2023 Dulwich Artist Open House
2023 Under the Rainbow, Blue water
2024 Landmark Art Centre
2024 Reporters House
2025 The National Library of Kosovo
2025 Horsebridge gallery Whitstable