For my Town`s 100 years. Between Moments and Places in One Space
I like the word “space” and even more like the saying “space around reflects space in the head”, but about the town where I live, I say “place”. It’s one of the word games that occasionally excites the mind - why do we say one way or another and why do we need terms at all. About the place we can say “a place in the heart”, “a place in the soul”, “a place in the world”, “to be in place and time”. And so wondering, I suddenly came to my conclusion - the place is primary at its starting point, the place has been and will be. The place experiences and relives ages, centuries, seasons, weather, moments. The time, which is essentially countless and alternating moments, always flows in parallel. Time is flowing, the place is changing.
And what do we say about “space”? Outdoor space, indoor space, public space, private and intimate space... Art space, space of feelings... It also could be said about place in certain situations, but there is one fundamental difference: the space needs a man, it is created by a human. Space without man does not exist, a place exists regardless. In the context of photography, my space is a frame I am creating, constructing, painting and reflecting not only what happens or exists regardless of me, but at the same time it is my personal vision and attitude towards it. My frame is formed through my feelings, which, in turn, wake up when I see a moment in eternity. I look, see and photograph - changes, events, also static facts; those that have been accomplished and continue to be performed by human, those that he affects and those which are independent of human being, in which man is not actively involved.
Despite the fact that a century has passed since the place we call Aluksne has become a town, it still has its own special soul. For me, as one who came to photography through design, it’s very important colors, shapes, textures and line games. On other hand for colors, shapes, textures and lines - light or illumination is important. Light is also important for mood, but mood is just one of the goals of photography. And it can go on and on. When building a frame, composition and layers are important, including a lot of other things, but most of all feelings are important to me - through them I photograph and through it my message continues to live - not as a fact, but as a fact of feelings in a moment.
The exhibition “Between Moments and Places in One Space” is composed of 100 frames, captured in Aluksne. What are these 100 frames? Basically, 100 frames can be taken during the day, even within an hour, and sometimes its justified and not boring. These hundreds are small selection from a large collection of places and moments, of details, mood and feelings I’ve captured while living in Aluksne. Aluksne consists of historical architecture and modern infrastructure, of houses and buildings, of streets and roads. All of this has been created by man and it has made this place on Earth into a town. But the special atmosphere of Aluksne is not characterized only by human formations. Nature, which is just a step away here, gives the environment liveliness and harmony, paints juicy sunsets and colorful sunrises, white coldness and opaque mist, abstract and mystical formations.
Photography is exciting, but nowadays it is more subtle than ever; it still likes originality and an unusual arrangement in the frame, vision, concept and idea, but today`s rapid development, the wide availability of the latest technology, and thus the over-saturation of the digital visual worlds, photography hates carelessness, cliches and commonly used standards more then ever before.
“Between Places and Moments in One Space” in my 3rd solo exhibition. See Aluksne Culture Centre from 2nd January 20 28th February 2020.
