You are cordially invited to the opening of the photography exhibition of Klara Galičič and Tiina Kemppinen: A stranger meets a stranger, which will be held on Wednesday, April 20 at 8 p.m. in the Kamnik House of Culture.
At this exhibition, we can see the works of two young female photographers, who were brought together by the desire for knowledge in a foreign land. The project they have set themselves is quite obvious at first glance. As foreigners in a city in the north of Europe, they try to define their place in relation to the people living there, to explore the moments that connect them and perhaps show with them the most essential thing - that in our lives, regardless of where and with whom we are, we are actually eternally alone. Although we are social creatures who constantly seek and need closeness to others, even in the company of others we are often in our own world. Communication allows us to exchange opinions, with words we try to describe emotions, thoughts, sometimes even our most intimate secrets. However, sooner or later there comes a moment when it seems to us that no one but ourselves can fully understand our life and being. This is how we meet family members, friends, acquaintances and strangers on a daily basis, we talk, or we only glimpse with a fleeting glance that someone has just passed by us. But we remain safe in the shelter of our intimate world.
In the photographs of Klara Galičič, we see people who are complete strangers, as well as those whom we assume know each other at least vaguely. Regardless of their relationship, however, there is a gaping void between them. We feel alienation, loneliness, our eyes are mostly staring into emptiness. With a little daring, you could guess their thoughts. Unawareness of the presence of the photographer, who captured a moment of their everyday life with voyeuristic photography, further emphasizes the emptiness between them. The person on this side of the camera also shares their fate. And maybe that's why she was attracted by people from somewhere on the way to somewhere who stopped for a moment, thought, said "good day" and went on. Or simply obsess…
Tiina Kemppinen tackled the same topic differently. Instead of searching and following people around town, she decided that they would come to her. Waiting was her strategy. And at the right moment, she took a photo. Lots of photos. And after review and selection, she combined several of them into one. This is how she showed us that despite our differences, we are so much alike. That we behave similarly during the forced wait at the traffic lights. When the paths of random people momentarily converge at a traffic light and something completely normal or completely unusual happens. We are looking at photographs of moments that never happened as such and, on the other hand, did happen, only in a time lapse. The forced waiting may have dictated the forced gathering in the photos. Although different from Klara's photos, here too we can wonder about their relationships, despite the fact that they are artificially recreated.
Text author: Egon Bajt
You will be able to see the exhibition until June 1, 2016 during the official hours of the Kamnik House of Culture (Monday and Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and from Tuesday to Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.).
