H – The Notion of Humanist Photography
Various Artists
Centre national de l’audiovisuel & Kaunas fotografijos galerija
English, French and Lithuanian
Hardcover
336 pages
240 x 300 mm
2020
ISBN 97867098099478
The publication ‘H – The Notion of Humanist Photography’ brings together over 23 multifaceted artistic positions and includes four extensive essays as well as numerous texts about the artist’s works. This ensemble creates a multifaceted framework that places the notion of humanist photography at its center and allows to delve deeper into different aspects and perspectives.
In 2022, two European cultural institutions, the Centre national de l’audiovisuel (CNA) in Luxembourg and the Kaunas Photography Gallery in Lithuania, joined forces to create a collaborative project that brought together a group of international artists to explore the notion of humanist photography. Twenty-three artists, four authors, three mentors and one designer (Nicolas Polli) were invited to be part of this crossing borders project. The project took the form of two separate residencies held at the Kaunas Photography Gallery and the CNA during May and June 2022. Led by Jim Goldberg in Kaunas, Emma Bowkett and Naoise O’Keeffe in Dudelange, the residencies provided a platform for an exchange of ideas and discussions about the artists’ work: how their work relates to today’s world and how contemporary photographers can still find meaningful and inventive ways to present what it means to be human. These themes were grown and developed from the discussions, with additional involvement from critics and curators, along with access to the collections and cultural networks of the Centre national de l’audiovisuel and the Kaunas Photography Gallery. As a result, the project culminated in the production of a trilingual publication (will be published end of November 2022).
Some of CNA’s most emblematic collections and commitments at Kaunas Photography Gallery are historically linked to humanist photography, a documentary style focusing on ordinary people in everyday situations. It is an approach most famously associated in Europe with such photographers as André Kertész, Robert Doisneau and the Magnum co-founder Henri Cartier-Bresson. The CNA holds the seminal exhibition ‘The Family of Man’, curated by Edward Steichen for the New York Museum of Modern Art in 1955, which is regarded as a manifesto for peace and the fundamental equality of mankind expressed through the humanist photography of the post-war years. In Lithuania, the humanist vision has been central to the way the country has recorded and preserved its sense of national identity, especially during the period of Soviet occupation when the country’s unique character, environment and way of life were threatened with destruction.
Contributions by Ieva Baltaduonytė (LT), Máté Bartha (HU), Laurianne Bixhain (LU), Marie Capesius (LU), Sébastien Cuvelier (LU), Ankita Das (IN), Patrick Galbats (LU), Kata Geibl (HU), Karolina Gembara (PL), Anne-Sophie Guillet (FR/BE), Kseniya Halubovich (BY), Tadas Kazakevičius (LT), Geistė Marija Kinčinaitytė (LT), Massao Mascaro (BE), Artūras Morozovas (LT), Bruno Oliveira (LU), Agnieszka Sejud (PL), Marie Smith (UK), Anne Speltz (LU), Indrė Urbonaitė (LT), Severina Venckutė (LT), Karolina Wojtas (PL), Ana Zibelnik (SI).
(Source: https://cna.public.lu/en/projects/2021/humanistphotographyproject.html)
About the Publishers
Centre national de l’audiovisuel is a unique cultural diversity in the field of sound and image. A platform open to the general public as well as a professional institution, the CNA was created in 1989 and placed under the helm of the Ministry of Culture. The institute’s main mission is to preserve and promote Luxembourg’s audiovisual heritage and to make its large resources of moving image, photography and sound accessible to all through exhibitions, publications, screenings, conferences and other events open to a large audience.
The CNA supports professional and emerging audiovisual creators through the establishment of scholarship programs, residencies, and competitions, often in collaboration with other state institutions, municipalities, and national and international associations. The CNA fulfills its production mission by either commissioning photographic and cinematic works from individual or collective artists or by providing them with opportunities to publish and disseminate their creations.
https://cna.public.lu/en.html
(Source: https://cna.public.lu/en/centre-national-audiovisuel.html)
SHOP.KAUNASGALLERY.LT is the online store of publications of Kaunas Photography Gallery. The physical bookstore, where you can find all books published online, is located at Kaunas Photography Gallery, continuing a long publishing tradition in Lithuania, and is currently focused not only on the representation of photographic artists, but also on the ongoing studies of Lithuanian photography. Thanks to the successful publishing activities of Kaunas Photography Gallery, Lithuanian photography is gaining greater recognition than ever before. Step by step, it is becoming more and more recognized on the international stage and is presented at major international photography publication events.
Another important direction of Kaunas Photography Gallery’s publishing activities is collaboration and cooperation with other publishers and field photographers both in Lithuania and abroad. In 2018, Kaunas Photography Gallery participated in the Photobook Dummy competition organized by SELF PUBLISH RIGA, publishing the winner’s book together with the printing house KOPA, as well as Antalis LT and Antalis LV.
https://shop.kaunasgallery.lt
(Source: https://shop.kaunasgallery.lt/apie)
