Currently the Gallery
of Photography in Dublin is hosting an exhibition called Vilnius: Photographs
of Old Town. It runs from the 3rd-15th of October and in
this exhibition it is the work of photographer Kęstutis Stoškus which is on
display. Stoškus is a Lithuanian architectural photographer from the town of Dūdlaukis
and has put his talents towards showing piecing some of the architectural qualities
of the old town. After graduating from economics Stoškus turned his attention
to photography and has been working in the field since 1985. He regularly works
in the medium of black and white photography and rarely do people feature in Stoškus
work and in this exhibition that trend continues as he focuses more on allowing
the buildings/architecture, his main interest, and their surroundings to take
centre stage.
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| Cathedral from Tilto St. |
When you first set foot
into the exhibition especially if you come in not knowing anything about the
photographer you quickly realise this artist clearly feels more content with
using black and white images. This was something that first grasped my attention
as black and white would be my preferred option in many cases. With certain
photographs such as Cathedral from Tilto Street, the black and white give off a
certain dream like quality with the foreground almost completely engulfed in
darkness, getting brighter as we move close to the Chatedral which is then
almost wholly white showing perhaps a sense of a religious calling.
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| Cathedral Vilnius |
Another
image in which the black and white ads to the image is, Detail of the Interior
of the (Franciscan) Church of the assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in
this image the opposite technique used in the earlier photograph is used and
now we have a bright foreground with a darker background. With this applied the
image seems to convey a darker meaning, perhaps the road ahead is a dangerous
path and one must go with caution. Other photographs which really benefit from
the black and white are the Rasy Cemetary pictures of which there are three and
also one called Bernadine Cemetary where in all of these images the black and
white really convey the nature of cemeteries and the fact that they are where
the dead rest, it is quite an interesting collection of photos to make one
question life, death and the unknown. On the flip side however there are some
photographs that feel too intense or that the light has taken a lot from the
image. One such image is Panorama of Old Town with Gate of Dawn where the white
of the snow in the image is far too strong and detracts from what could be a
nice photo.
Overall the exhibit is
interesting look into a town that I had never heard of before but it is a fascinating
display of black and white photography which in my personal view contains
elements of religion, death, humanity, the unknown and a sense of loss.
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| Vilnius |
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