Park víťazstva
Park víťazstva stelesňuje historickú traumu malého pobaltského národa. Bol vytvorený na oslavu lotyšskej nezávislosti, no po 2. svetovej vojne bol preonačený na pamiatku sovietskeho víťazstva nad nacistickým Nemeckom. Dnes park spolu s pomníkom víťazstva zosobňuje ruský šovinizmus, rusky hovoriacu komunitu a sovietsku okupáciu. Premeny tohto miesta sú podobné tragickým dejinám Lotyšska a mnohých iných východoeurópskych krajín. Vo svojej tvorbe však až tak neodkazujem na historické fakty, miesto skôr využívam ako kontext vlastnej umeleckej improvizácie, ktorá je v mnohom abstraktná a mnohoznačná.

Lucia Sekerková
Between the iPhone and the Crystal Ball

Photographer Lucia Sekerková and ethnologist Ivana Šusterová tried to link photographic work with ethnological research. For the past four years, they have been working on the suggestive theme of Romanian women from the group of Olah Roma who make their living at fortune-telling and witchcraft activities. In recent years, interest in these services, within Romanian society, has risen again. This topic is the subject of lively discussion in Romanian households, the media and also police reports. The authors have summarized their work in a double-book, consisting of a photographic part and an essay, and they are trying to gain financial support for its publication at Hithit.cz.

Bohemians from Montparnasse. Photo Portraits By Jean Cocteau And Veno Pilon

In his series of photographs from 1916 Jean Cocteau, notorious French writer, filmmaker and artist, recorded one of the afternoons spent with very distinctive bohemian figures of Paris' Montparnasse district, including people such as Pablo Picasso, Amedeo Modigliani and Max Jacob. Supposedly, Cocteau asked Picasso right on this day to design the visuals for his piece co-written with Erik Satie, entitled Parade, which was later performed by the Russian ballet with huge success. These photographs from were shot intuitively during that day in Paris, a city barely 100 kilometers behind the front lines of the World War I, became valuable historical document of the period when Paris was still undoubtedly the centre of the artistic world and the city where many progressive minded figures lived and worked. The most notable thing is the amateur and spontaneous nature of the photos. The viewer can glimpse into an afternoon shared by friends, where the participants are also significant personalities for French avant-garde. Jean Cocteau's photos constitute probably the first art collection that wishes to recount a story beyond the goal of documentation, so they could also be viewed as key frames of a movie.

Silvia Saparová / Next Generation
Aktuálna výstava Silvie Saparovej nadväzuje na tvorivý program autorky, ktorý rozvíja od roku 2011. Vtedy sme mali možnosť vidieť výstavu Iné ženy, kde nás prekvapila obratom od svojho extrovertného inscenovania (Couples: 1999, Women in Condition: 2007-2010) k omnoho introvertnejšej a meditatívnejšej polohe. Súbor Iné ženy nám predstavil sériu veľkoformátových fotografií žien z autorkinho blízkeho prostredia, ktorý bol oprostený od narácie, či akýchkoľvek formálnych doplnkov. Ostali iba obrazy žien, ktoré sú všetky iné. Iné preto, lebo ich vnútorný život a imaginácia sú základom vonkajšieho vzhľadu.

Athens is a city in flux, and this perpetual change unfolds everyday in front of our eyes. One could easily say it is a city with multiple identities, but in a strange way it is also a city with a very singular identity that distinguishes it from other cities. It is simultaneously a city that suffers and a cityin regeneration. An ugly city and a beautiful city.

    The ‘Unseen Cities’ series explores the way in which we ‘see’ a landscape, delving into the relationship between: the physical reality of a landscape as it can be seen with the naked eye, the appearance of a landscape as it can be seen through the lens, and, ultimately, the appearance of a landscape as it can be seen after capture.

JOERG RUBBERT
JÜRGEN BÜRGIN

"NIGHTSHIFT"
– Street Photography after Dark –

Slovakia through the eyes of the photographers from the Bilderberg agency.
The Unknown Slovakia – exhibition presents works of photographers of the renowned Bilderberg agency from Hamburg, whose founder is the Slovak Andrej Reiser, and the only member who was not living in Germany was  another Slovak, Karol Kállay. The Bilderberg agency consisted of leading photographers; from its inception it has been obvious that with its distinctive conception and approach to photography it is not a common photographic agency. Its members have worked for the world's most prestigious magazines and several of them have won prizes at The World Press Photo Award.