Atminties diskursas Algimanto Kunčiaus fotografijų cikle "Reminiscencijos"

LTFotografo Algimanto Kunčiaus darbų ciklas Reminiscencijos (1975-1985) Lietuvoje dominavusios humanistinės fotografijos kontekste išsiskyrė tuo, kad jo objektas buvo ne žmogus, o daiktas, tarsi neturintis aiškios prasmės. Taciau kaip tik šis ciklas žymėjo naują konceptualią ir formos ieškojimų pradzią Lietuvos fotografijoje bei tapo svarbiu kultūros reiškiniu. Straipsnyje aiškinamasi, kaip fotografas kūrė asmeninės atminties diskursą, fiksuodamas miesto ir kaimo kasdienybės erdves. Analizuojant vizualią fotografijų kalbą ir susiejant ją su fotografo biografija, įvardijamos šiame cikle perteikiamos bendresnės istorinės ir kultūrinės reikšmės. [Iš leidinio]Reikšminiai žodžiai: Fotografija; Atmintis; Tapatybė; Daiktas; Fenomenologija; Photography; Memory; Identity; Self; Phenomenology.

ENReminiscences (1975-1985), a series by the famous Lithuanian photographer Algimantas Kuncius (b. 1939), stands out in the context of the humanist photography that dominated in Lithuania during the Soviet period. Rather than photographing people, Kuncius focused on things and the everyday urban as well as rural environment. The series marked the beginning of a new aesthetic tendency, which was later developed in the 1980s by younger photographers. It also reflected processes that had been taking place in Lithuanian painting, which was then moving towards the observation of everyday life. After the restoration of independence in 1990, Reminiscences gained significance and came to represent Lithuanian photography in the international context; separate images were used to illustrate poetry and texts on the ethnic roots of Lithuania, displaying the images' capacity to touch upon universal sensibilities. Therefore, this paper explores how the photographic rendering of "things" in Reminiscences was used to express identity and reflect on ideas that were current during the late Soviet period as well as investigating how personal memories are associated with wider cultural phenomena. The discourse of memory is read by linking visual analysis with the photographer's memories and interpretations of this series that were made at the time of its creation. The discourse of memory in Reminiscences by Kuncius follows two main directions. The first leads towards a phenomenological reduction of the opposition between the observing subject and the object that is being observed.This effect is achieved through the use of various codes of photographic language, which supports the interpretation that the things being photographed were signs whose purpose was to carry the memories of a past that was able to both influence and form the present of the self The second direction of the interpretation takes a turn towards reading cultural values in the structure of the series. Thus, every photograph becomes a step in the process of discovering national identity. The latter meaning is related to the significance of Reminiscences in Lithuanian culture, as the reading of common meanings in everyday things allows the audience to appropriate identity constructed by the photographs. [From the publication]