In June, FKK members selected a street photograph by member Marko Antoni Novak entitled Poor Man. It is a visual confession of homelessness and social indifference, captured by the lens on an otherwise ordinary Saturday evening on Čopova Street in Ljubljana. In the photograph, a homeless man sits on the edge of the street, offering his outstretched hand to passersby, who, as the author points out, ignore him and rush past, as if he were part of the urban scenery, rather than a human being with his own story.
The photograph acts as a silent but insightful social critique. Novak skillfully contrasts the central motif of the “poor man” with the faceless crowd, whose faces are deliberately cut out, almost erased. This creates an effect of alienation that underlines the homeless man’s isolation and at the same time our collective indifference. This figure is not just a homeless individual, but becomes a symbol of the ignored in contemporary society.
An important element of the photograph is also the color dynamics: the cold blue background flows into the warmer, yellow lighting of the central motif, which further highlights the subject and creates a subtle tension between the coldness of the world and the warmth of human presence.
Mark Antonij Novak is not just a passing observer, but also an ethical participant; before the recording, as he writes, he gave the man some change as a symbolic gesture of recognition and respect. His approach shows a conscious placement in the dialogue between art and responsibility, which is not uncommon in his work. His works often thematize social fringes and ignored narratives, not remaining at the level of bare aesthetics, but moving into engaged art.
The Poor is more than a snapshot of a moment; it is a mirror of urban reality, in which the question of solidarity is too often suffocated in the hustle and bustle of everyday life.
