Analysis of the photography concept in the discourse of Lithuanian photography of the 1960s

Straipsnyje analizuojamas praėjusio amžiaus 7 dešimtmečio fotografijos diskursas, atkreipiant dėmesį į to meto išskirtinį susidomėjimą šia medija ir fotografų darbais viešojoje erdvėje. Tyrimu siekiama atskleisti, kokią fotografijos sampratą formavo viešos diskusijos, išryškinti kūrybinius uždavinius, kuriuos sau kėlė fotografai. Lietuvos fotografijos istorijos tyrimus siūloma papildyti modernios fotografijos apibrėžtimi, išskiriant jai būdingus bruožus: reikšmingos formos paiešką ir siekį atskleisti gyvenimišką tiesą. Lyginant lietuvišką diskursą su 5–6 dešimtmečių modernios fotografijos tradicija Vakaruose, pastebima, jog pastaroji chruščiovinio atšilimo laikotarpiu importuota į Sovietų Sąjungą, netrukus buvo priimta kaip kultūrinė norma.The principles of making a photographic image have always provoked questions and discussions. A close analysis of the Lithuanian photographic discourse of the 1960s presented in this overview reveals an increased interest in photography as such in official newspapers and magazines. This kind of interest signalized two things: firstly, the aspiration of the upcoming young generation of photographers to justify their artistic ambitions, and secondly, the approval for such activities from Soviet authorities. The subject of the overview is the statements of photographers and critics that they used to describe their aims and tasks in photography at the time. The methodological approach proposed by Geoffrey Batchen in analysing the discourse of proto-photographers of the 19th century in the book "Burning with Desire. The Conception of Photography" (1997) opens the possibilities to analyse the discourse of the late 1960s and crystallize the ideas how the medium of photography was understood and how it shaped the expression of the works. The conducted research has revealed two main features that describe the modernist vision of Lithuanian photography: the search for a significant form and a conviction that photography has the power to reveal the hidden truth of life. The discourse of Lithuanian photography is compared to the broader context of the Western tradition of thinking about modern photography. The American propaganda exhibition The Family of Man curated by Edward Steichen, which was shown in the Soviet Union in 1959, is considered to have made an important impact on the processes of modernization of Soviet photography in the Thaw period. The author of the article argues that a socially uncritical understanding of the photographic medium based on formal values, which had been proposed by the blockbuster exhibition, was assimilated as a cultural norm and institutionalized through the established network of photographic organizations