Jože Zupin's photography exhibition - Photos from the closet
On Thursday, May 8th at 7 pm, in the gallery of the Kamnik Photo Club
The Kamnik Photo Club kindly invites you to the opening of the first solo photography exhibition by Jože Zupin with the title Photos from the closet.
The exhibition opening will be in Thursday, May 8, 2025, at 7 p.m. on the premises Photo club Kamnik.
This time, our member and versatile creator Jože Zupin opens the doors of his photographic archive, taking us back to the times when cameras still had film, soccer balls had seams, children without phones - and knees with plasters.
Joze Zupin was born in the last century in Maribor – to a postwoman and a construction worker, to be exact – which means that he was destined to spend his whole life carrying, building, repairing, assembling and observing something. He came to Kamnik as a child in 1951, and stayed here. Some say that once you come to Kamnik, it's hard to leave – but Jože never even tried that.
He spent his elementary school years with a ball in one hand and a camera in the other. He later went to Ljubljana, where he learned photography in a student dormitory, but also how to live independently - which included doing laundry, waiting in lines for hot water, and developing film in the bathroom.
He found his first job at Litostroj, but the commute to and from work took up three hours a day – just enough time to develop film, scan a photo, and eat a sandwich. So he returned to Kamnik, got a job at the Stol company, and stayed there for 30 years.
While working, he also completed high school and college in sports - because, as he says, if you're already working, do something else on the side.
His sporting career was very serious – he was among the best in handball, and even better in building tennis courts. He was the president of the construction committee and was responsible for the sports park in Duplica – he built a court there, as well as a few other corners for good cheer.
In 1971, he served in the army in Zagreb as a military photographer, where he captured many interesting shots during maneuvers – although some of the soldiers' looks convinced him to put down his camera and pick up a shovel. Fortunately, he didn't listen to them.
His love of manual labor also led him to a carpentry workshop, where he still creates true works of art from wood today – from Plečnik chairs to restored furniture that has survived wars and several moves. He and Breda have been together for 50 years – which means they have spent more time together than there are mobile phones. They have two adult sons, each of whom continues their father's creative and entrepreneurial streak in their own way – one with wood, the other with microbes. After retiring, Jože finally fulfilled a long-standing wish – he enrolled in the Kamnik Photography Club. He might have done it earlier, but he says that before that he was "too focused on other things".
Now, after four active years at the club, he is presenting his first exhibition. Pictures from the Closet are exactly that – photographs that have been waiting for decades to come to light again. Captured moments from Kamnik in the 60s and 70s, portraits, streets, moments of sporting spirit and everyday life that many people today seek out with nostalgia and admiration.
If you are interested in stories of captured moments, the smell of analog photography, soft light without filters, and authentic views beyond the lens - then see you at the opening.
Come! You might even recognize yourself in a photo – or you might find a piece of memory that you put away in your closet a long time ago.
Authors of the text: Tomaž Berčič and Jože Zupin
We look forward to your presence!
Photo club Kamnik
