A Father Holding His Children’s Portraits
W–045
War separated Mustafa Xaja from his family in 1999. He did not know whether his son Besim and daughter Jehona were alive. In a later documentary, the children recalled that Serb forces detained their father; after his release he found himself across the border in Albania.
1. Two portraits
Provenance and sources for frame 1
File and rights
Peter Turnley copyright; no free licence is stated. A 1500 × 1000 photographer-published reproduction, not the negative.
American photographer Peter Turnley met him in Kukës. Mustafa held a wallet against his face, showing two small portraits of his children. Turnley’s photograph appeared on the cover of Newsweek International. One circulating caption calls the children “two missing sons.” In artist Alban Muja’s film, the children tell the story of the separation themselves: Besim and Jehona, brother and sister. The first portrait has also circulated with a false caption describing Mustafa as a victim of NATO bombing.
After the war, Mustafa returned to Kosovo and found his family alive. Turnley returned too and photographed him with the children in Pristina. Now Besim and Jehona were beside their father as he held up their small portraits.
2. The family together
Provenance and sources for frame 2
File and rights
User-provided 1067 × 883 reproduction of the second image from a signed diptych. The photographic area is soft; this is not a negative scan. The auction catalogue confirms photographer, place and year; no free licence is stated. The reproduction’s borders remain visible.