Story of a Painting transforms into Story of a Photographer
Story of A Photographer is a sequel of a collaboration project implemented by an alliance between the Latvian National Museum of Art and Ellex in Latvia which was launched in 2017 as initiative a Story of a Painting and now has lived to have a follow-up.
Story of a Photographer is an educational project comprised of a miniseries of 8 videos about photographs included in the permanent exhibition of the Museum created in late 20th and early 21st century telling the story of their authors. The photograph collection of the Museum of Art focuses on masterpieces of those photographers who became household names in 1980s and especially 1990s – after restoration of the independence of Latvia.
To give and insight into this era eight authors have been selected along with their pieces represented in the permanent exhibition of the Museum of Art:
Andrejs Grants (1955)
Inta Ruka (1958)
Egons Spuris (1931–1990)
Māra Brašmane (1944)
Gvido Kajons (1955)
Zenta Dzividzinska (1944–2011)
Gunārs Janaitis (1934) un
Gunārs Binde (1933).
Authors themselves or people closely associated with their career – prominent people of the Latvian art of photography – share personal memories of how the photos were created, the time of creation, ideas, concepts and imagery.
On 27th November 2019 the opening event of video project Story of a Photographer was held in the library of the main building of the Latvian National Museum of Art, where Māra Lāce, Chief Executive of the Latvian National Museum of Art, Līga Mervina, Managing Partner of Ellex in Latvia, and Dr. art. Elita Ansone, Head of the Collection and Scientific Research Department ARSENĀLS of the Latvian National Museum of Art were present along with stakeholders of the project.
“A photography is not only an index finger of the right hand pushed some centimetre lower. The photography is a way of thinking.” Gunārs Janaitis, the Grand Master of Photography, shares his view in one of the video stories. The new series of the “Story of a Photographer” present eight awesome narratives about people who dedicated their lives to this all-consuming passion – photography. These conversations encourage everybody to ponder, explore, discover and perceive more than it is possible just be one glance at the pieces of photography. They tell about the era and people who formed it. This is the third collaboration project between Law Firm Ellex Klavins and the Museum of Art already. If the first two titled “Story of a Painting” focused on exploring most outstanding masterpieces of the Latvian painting, this year we wish to shed light on those values that can be found in the photography genre. I do hope that “Story of a Photographer” not only will incite interest in this part of the exhibition of the Museum but also will serve as a creative impulse for a further explorative journey in the world of art,” says Līga Merwin, Managing Partner of Ellex in Latvia.
Videos in Latvian, Russian and English languages are available on YouTube, Facebook and news portal Delfi.
