Lithuania. Two Centuries of Photography

This catalogue, published on the occasion of the exhibition “Lithuania. Two Centuries of Photography”, contains reproductions of 200 works by the most outstanding photographers working in Lithuania. From pictures by early pioneers – often Polish aristocrats or wealthy landowners – to the works of contemporary young Lithuanian artists scattered around the world.

This book is an overview of photographic trends and themes, obsessively recurring in the work of diverse artists, often working decades apart. It can also be read across generations to follow the evolution of Lithuanian photography, the political and artistic pressures that shaped it, the tensions it tried to express directly and the ones it expressed through allusions, photos that were the result of collaboration, and the ones which were the voice of resistance. Grouped here in series, the photographs show existential and conceptual themes, but also document the life of Lithuanian society from the mid-nineteenth century to the present day.

The catalogue features early works of Jan Bułhak and Stanisław Kazimierz Kossakowski, iconic photographs by Antanas Sutkus, Algimantas Kunčius, Romualdas Rakauskas, Aleksandras Macijauskas, and Romualdas Požerskis, emotionally powerful works by Virgilijus Šonta, feminist self-portraits by Violeta Bubelytė, conceptual and innovative installations by the Polish-Lithuanian duo Dorota Gawęda and Eglė Kulbokaitė.