The focus on Soviet-era photography is increasing around the world and the need for it is growing: Exhibitions are being organized, albums published, and texts on art history and history in general are being written. Lithuanian photography is recognized for its originality, authenticity, intensity and, to be sure, for its revelations of reality. It is surprising how, under the conditions of the Soviet system, artists were able to find their own authorial voices and articulate their worldview in a visually convincing manner. According to William Ewing, “the obstacles encountered by photographers from Lithuania and countries in the Soviet Bloc were, historically speaking, astonishing.” In the opinion of an internationally renowned photographic art critic, it be wrong and short-sighted to confine the work of such a great Lithuanian photographer as Antanas Sutkus to the framework of a small country so ravaged by history, and photographer and his associates should, without a doubt, be better known internationally and need to be provided a world stage.
Academic research of the photographic medium based on interdisciplinary methodology, combining studies of the form, content, and socio-political context of works, has shaped an appropriate discourse of the aesthetic needs of 21st century audiences. Academic insights are quickly integrated into the processes of actualizing interpretations of photography at all levels of its use and it seems this may be the main reason why Soviet-era photography today is among the predominant means of representing Lithuanian national culture. However, when working with images created in the Soviet period, it is important to recognize and understand their origins, which is what this monograph has sought to achieve.
The book presents a coherent version of the historical model of the development of Lithuanian photography during the Soviet-era, emphasising Sovietisation as the key factor that mainly influences the stylistic expression and controls the dissemination of photography and the resonance of the image “messages” in society. The panorama of Lithuanian photography is presented in three sections, trying to understand what photography in the Soviet-era was supposed to be (models of ideologues and its creators), how it was created (principles of expression, methods and authorial distinctiveness), where and how it was disseminated (means of dissemination and their censorship). The monograph analyses the changes in visual culture in Lithuania and proves the failure of the project of sovietization of photography, as well as discusses the tendencies that were spreading in the second half of the twentieth century in the bloc of the socialist Central and Eastern European countries.
The main cross-section of this analysis of the evolution of photography is ideological, highlighting that evolution’s direct connections with the stages of political processes in the Soviet Union. The direct dependence of culture on politics was clearly demonstrated by the emergence of three artistic waves in photography: The rule of Joseph Stalin saw the total development of photojournalism based on Socialist Realism, the policies of Nikita Khrushchev facilitated the rise of humanistic documentalism, and the crisis of stagnation under Leonid Brezhnev was expressed by the devisualization movement, which gave substance to the tenets of postmodernism. The differences between these artistic trends were reflected in the principles and artistic strategies of photography creation.
This scientific work is relevant for photography researchers, teachers, students and exhibition curators. Addressed to a foreign readership, the book integrates the processes of Lithuanian photography into the field of world cultural history. The publishing partner of the project, Kaunas Photography Gallery, is presenting the book in prestigious foreign galleries, museums, art and photography book fairs, and the publication has been passed on to foreign libraries and photography experts. In 2022, the monograph was exhibited at the Tbilisi Museum of Photography and Multimedia and at the international photography fair “Paris Photo”.
Results: Matulytė, Margarita. Creating Altreality: The Sovietization of Lithuanian Photography, Vilnius: Lithuanian Culture Research Institute, 2021, 428 p. ISBN 978-609-8231-32-8
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