Recently I has occassionally visited the Old Riga and on the Dome Square, there was freesome interesting exhibition called
. Right on the street, there were huge photographs of the "real side of Latvia" through 10 years. I enjoyed exhibition a lot and took some (probably not permitted) copies of what I liked at most, for everybody to enjoy on this forum
I have few notes about pictures: I can't find them on the initiators website, so I suppose they are available in such quality only in the photo book they mention, or were specially prepared for exhibition that way. On the backsides of exhibition pictures, they mentioned Nikon and Epson as sponsors, there may be that trick. Please note that I simply re-photographed pictures and publish here only for previewing them, mentioning each author's name. I have cut many pictures on ends, yes, the old good piracy trick. Sorry guys, but I loved that project
I hope that way the project will be some way advertised. For high quality pictures, you need to refer to project authors.
French literature theorist Roland Barthes has once written about photographs:
"It makes me feel alive, and I make it alive". Photographs with theirs spirit of life can keep the feeling of the moment also in the events of the past.
Photography is one of the rare forms of art giving the opportunity to fix, document, eternalize and to catch the uniqueness of every moment of life. It is important to grasp and to preserve the moment, as it may be gone to the past in just a second. The gallery of moments is an opportunity to see the mirror images of the past and today, showing the reality as it is or was, or leaving the interpretation to the spectator. Two events, unique in the world history of the photography, allow to take a look at
one day in Latvia in 1987 and 2007.
The photo project
One Day in Latvia is an exceptional event not only in Latvia, but also in the context of the cultural life in the world.
The project started on August 28, 1987, when 70 professional photographers from the Soviet Union, Finland and Federative Republic of Germany for 24 hours took pictures of what was then Soviet Latvia. Pictures were taken in factories, Party Committees, in
kolkhozes, libraries, cafeterias, cemeteries, saunas, homes and on the streets.
At that time photographers had more than 700 obligatory tasks and 3 free choice topics. As a result of the 1987 photo action, more than 30,000 photo negatives of high quality were produced.
After the end of the photo event, the organizers Jānis Krūmiņš, Gunārs Janaitis and Ints Kalniņš, despite of considerable pressure from different organisations, Party Committee among them, did not agree to publish the high quality photo material acquired in the action in unsatisfactory polygraphic quality. The unique negatives were for 20 years stored in Riga History and Shipping Museum.
In 2007, Jānis Krūmiņš, Gunārs Janaitis, Viesturs Koziols and Ilmārs Znotiņš organized another photo project like the photo action in 1987.
On August 31, 2007, 54 professional photographers with assistants, 150 specially invited photographers and more than 6000 photo amateurs from Latvia and abroad took part in the photo event
One Day in Latvia. 20 Years On. Among the participants were also titled and well known photographers from such photo agencies as Magnum, Reuters, Assiociated Press, Singhua, France-Presse and others. This time, the participants were given 1500 obligatory tasks and many free choice topics. As previously, the action went on for 24 hours and many of the obligatory tasks included the same people, places and objects which were taken 20 years ago. The travel itineraries of the photographers covered all the districts of Latvia, and good cooperation was established with the local municipalities, institutions and local people, thus allowing to look closely at the life, people and events in contemporary Latvia through the photo lens. During the photo event
One Day in Latvia. 20 Years On, more than 500,000 qualitative and informative photographs were made.
Association
Viena Diena.lv (One Day) in cooperation with the European Commission Representation in Latvia have prepared from the archives of the two photo events second exhibition in Riga Dome Square which was available for audience from April 30 to May 18 for 24 hours a day. Also exhibition in National library of Latvia (14 K. Barona str.) windows will be available from May 1 to 27. In these exhibitions, moments of life in Latvia fixed by famous photographers are available for seeing, initiating reflection and discussions on the changes, choices and opportunities which have taken place in Latvia in the last two decades.
What was Latvia 20 years ago? What were people in Latvia like, and are we the same or already completely different? Looking back at the history of Latvia, and the transformations having taken place, we can see changes in the political, economical and social life, but what has changed in the minds of people?
Today Latvia is an independent country in the European Union, which has in its development preserved the features of particularity and uniqueness. They may remain unnoticed in the everyday haste, however, they are so important when we think about the future.
In this exhibition, only a small part of all the photographs taken in the two events are included, as the amin criteria for choice were the quality of the photograph and correspondence to the documental approach.
10 exhibitions One Day in Latvia were launched in all regions of Latvia in 2008. 14 events in cooperation with Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia took place all around the World (United Nations building in New York, Bejing, Tokyo, London etc.) Photo book "One Day in Latvia 1987/2007" was published in May, 2008 in cooperation with Janis Roze publishers. Book received Golden Apple Tree award as the best book in 2008 in Latvian Publishers Association contest.