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Respect yourself in order to respect the bequeathed
Thousands and thousands of tourists leave their homes to see,
even briefly, different landscapes, to visit other cities and villages,
always admiring antiquities the most. Above all, photography
teaches us to see the bequeathed beauties of nature and
applied arts not only through the eyes of local tourists, but
even more through the eyes of love, in our own yard, district,
village, town, city, in our own country. Since tourism, due to its
massive scale, has created strong stereotypes in photography,
even prejudices about the motifs, it is very difficult to achieve, in
spaces exposed to constant gaze, a new, different photography,
while revealing the huge and rich heritage that surrounds us
and within which we live.
Photographic workshops of the Croatian Photographic Union for
young photographers or for those who will thereupon become
photographers, are taking place away from the city centre, away
from the large tourist crowds (because foreign tourism in Croatia
is one of the most profitable economic sectors), in the intimacy
of small towns, folk tradition, in the magnificence of extensive
wide open spaces of the natural (already largely protected)
heritage. The way these young people (and there are also similar
workshops for their instructors) go through photographic
“instructions,” is closer to the avant-garde (Bauhaus) tradition of
research, rather than prescribing any kind of method. In order
to start the search for a motif, to even perceive beyond and in
between the ordinary banalities of everyday life, while being
here and now, is achieved through simple, daily and human
relationship with the group they have joined and in which they
will spend some time. The first task, then, is to create a “family”
atmosphere. The central place in the family is the table, a mutual
meal, relaxedness, trust, division of chores, conversation and
encouragement. All of this leads them to accept themselves as
independent and individual, completely different beings and
that every one of them is in his/her way unique. Unburdened
with the outcome, unburdened with the notion of a good
photograph, good motif and the value of the heritage, they take
aimed photographic trips. Suddenly new insights appear before
them. They are ready to perceive, in marginalities, in modesty,
in reflections, in small huts, in bricklaying, in materials, in yards,
reflections, the beauty inherited from the ancient times, which
brings them great joy, different and more spiritual from the one
offered in commercials of consumers` glamour. |
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