Joco Žnidaršič
Dražgoše III / Dražgoše III, 1977
digitalni tisk na arhivski papir / digital print on archival paper
42 x 58 cm
odprta edicija / open edition
Serija: TITO IN FOTOAPARAT / TITO AND THE CAMERA
For English version please scroll down. O SERIJI 4. maja 1980 je v ljubljanskem Kliničnem centru umrl Josip Broz Tito, karizmatični vodja bivše države SFRJ. V državi praktično ni bilo...
For English version please scroll down.
O SERIJI
4. maja 1980 je v ljubljanskem Kliničnem centru umrl Josip Broz Tito, karizmatični vodja bivše države SFRJ. V državi praktično ni bilo tiskanega medija, ki o novici ne bi poročal, dogodek pa je opremil tudi naslovnice časopisov po vsem svetu, od Der Spiegela do New York Timesa. Številne med ikoničnimi fotografijami, ki so spremljale objave, pa so prav fotografije Joca Žnidaršiča, mojstra fotografije in po spletu okoliščin uradnega fotografa Tita na njegovih obiskih v Sloveniji.
Karierna pot Joca Žnidaršiča je prav tako zanimiva, kot fotograf sam. Nekdanji študent medicine je še v času študija začel reportersko pot pri časopisu Tribuna, kasneje pa pri Tovarišu in Delu. Je prvi fotograf, ki je leta 1977 za svoje delo, med drugim urednika fotografije pri Delu, prejel nagrado Prešernovega sklada. Istega leta pa je bil tudi prvi Slovenec, ki je dobil nagrado World Press Photo za dramatično sekvenco reševanja konja na poti na Triglav. Njegove fotografije so znane po uprizarjanju ljudi skozi najbolj iskren in humanizirajoč objektiv. Tega je usmerjal tako v napete fotoreportaže iraško-iranske vojne, letalske nesreče na Korziki, osamosvojitvene vojne v Sloveniji, pa tudi v portrete vodilnih politikov. Na fascinantno mesto Titovega fotografa je bil dodeljen v službi za časopis Delo v 70. letih. Po naključju je nadomestil sodelavca, ki je bil ravno na dan fotografiranja Tita ob njegovem obisku v Predosljah bolan, fotografije pa so bile uredništvu (in Titu) tako všeč, da ga je od takrat naprej fotografiral povsod.[1] Spremljal ga je po vsem svetu, mu sledil na slavni obisk Kitajskega zidu, v države neuvrščenih, kot je Šri Lanka, in drugam.[2]
Voditelji velikih držav so imeli od samega izuma medija ob sebi mnogo fotografov, propagandi njihovih vlad pa je fotografija služila že vsaj od 19. stoletja, ko je angleška kraljica Viktorija izdala fotografski album svojih carte-de-visite portretov, ki je postal prodajni hit v Angliji.[3] Zaradi svoje specifične narave uprizarjanja objektivnega je bila fotografija močan medij za sporočanje »resnice«. Ta je bila jasno lahko zmanipulirana s kadriranjem in uprizarjanjem, a v očeh javnosti še vedno najbolj verodostojna. Tito se je, kot velja za vse velike vodje držav tega časa, dobro zavedal njene moči. Njegove fotografije so pomagale ustvarjati pravi kult osebnosti, ki se je hitro razširil med prebivalci SFRJ. Imele so jasno funkcijo širjenja podobe, ideologije in pridobivanja podpore pri ljudstvu, ki se je lahko istovetilo z mnogoterimi podobami Tita - Tito s psički, otroci, pri gledanju razstav, narave, pa tudi sproščenega, s kozarcem viskija ali cigaro. Veliko manj znana pa je množica fotografij Tita, ki fotografira tudi sam.
Pri Žnidaršičevih fotografijah je zanimivo prav to, da je fotografiral tudi takšne prizore, ki jih drugi fotografi morda niso opazili, ali pa jih niso smatrali za pomembne. Nikoli ni delal protokolarnih, togih slik politikov, temveč jih je želel predstaviti na način, na kakršnega je fotografiral običajne ljudi, na primer v ganljivi seriji revnih prebivalcev Kozjanskega. Tako je nastala cela množica podob, ki Tita predstavljajo v nekonvencionalnih kadrih. Med njimi je serija portretov predsednika, ki je osredotočena prav na njegov odnos s fotoaparatom. Zelo rad je namreč fotografiral tudi sam in na fotografiji iz Dražgoš admiralu Vidoviču npr. na mestu predaja svoje polaroide. Med drugim je Žnidaršič za časopis Delo dejal, da mu je Tito nekoč pripomnil, da ima boljši fotoaparat od njega. Joco je nazaj pripomnil, da on pa bolje fotografira. Sicer kočljiva izjava je k sreči naletela na smeh predsednikove žene Jovanke.[4]
Poleg propagandne funkcije fotografije, se je Tito zavedal tudi njenega umetniškega potenciala. Republiške razstave fotografije so bile pogosti in pomembni dogodki, ki so že sami po sebi kazali na predsednikovo ljubezen do fotografskega medija. Prvič pa je v seriji nenamernih portretov tudi sam predstavljen kot fotograf. Fotografije niso bile del propagandnega narativa, pač pa predstavljajo jugoslovanskega vodjo pri morda nenavadnem hobiju. Kot je ob Žnidaršičevih fotografijah Tita zapisal že Bogdan Pogačnik: ''Čeprav gre v zbirki - pa bodisi je Tito slikan sam ali v družbi z drugimi - v bistvu ves čas za lik enega človeka, ta predstavitev nikoli ni režimsko napihnjena, ni stilno patetična, ampak vselej blaga in demokratična, preprosta in neposredna''.[5] Na nekaterih fotografijah se zdi, kot da Žnidaršič fotografira Tita in Tito Žnidaršiča, oba pa izkazujeta veselje do medija - eden z nasmehom in kamero kot subjekt fotografije, drugi kot njen strastni dokumentarist. Skozi dvojni objektiv fotografa in fotografskega subjekta smo v fotografijah Joca Žnidaršiča opomnjeni na fascinantnega moža, razburljiv čas v zgodovini ter vsesplošno ljubezen do fotografije.
Hana Čeferin
[1] Veso STOJANOV, Telefoto je bil včasih tudi norišnica, Delo, 25. 2. 2019 (dostop na: https://www.delo.si/novice/slovenija/tele-je-bil-vcasih-tudi-norisnica-150764.html).
[2] Tadej GOLOB, Joco Žnidaršič: "Fotografija je danes tudi galerijsko blago, zlasti v Ameriki!", Metropolitan, 24. 5. 2007 (dostopno na: https://www.metropolitan.si/scena/joco-znidarsic/).
[3] Več v: Helmut GERNSHEIM – Alison GERNSHEIM, The History of Photography, London 1969.
[4] Veso STOJANOV, Telefoto je bil včasih tudi norišnica, Delo, 25. 2. 2019 (dostop na: https://www.delo.si/novice/slovenija/tele-je-bil-vcasih-tudi-norisnica-150764.html).
[5] Bogdan POGAČNIK, Uvod, v: Tito. Fotografije z obiskov predsednika Josipa Broza Tita v Sloveniji. 1974–1977, Ljubljana 1977.
ABOUT THE SERIES
On the 4th of May 1980, the charismatic leader of SFRY, Josip Broz Tito, died in Ljubljana’s Medical Centre. The event was widely reported on by domestic journalistic mediums, but was also adorning covers internationally, from Der Spiegel to New York Times. Among the iconic photographs of Tito which were published alongside the articles, numerous were the work of Joco Žnidaršič, a master of photography and, quite coincidentally, Tito’s designated photographer on his visits to Slovenia.
The career path of Joco Žnidaršič is just as interesting as the man himself. A former medical student, he began his photojournalistic path at the newspaper Tribuna, and continued at Tovariš and Delo. He was the first photographer who received the Prešeren Foundation award in 1977, including for his work as editor of photography at Delo. The same year, he became the first Slovene photographer to win the World Press Photo award for his dramatic sequence of photographs documenting the rescue of a horse on Triglav. His photographs are known to depict people through a profoundly sincere and humanizing lens. His camera was focused equally on gripping documentations of the Iran-Iraq war, the Corsica plane crash, the Slovenian War of Independence, as well as on portraits of the era’s leading politicians. He was assigned the fascinating position of Tito’s official photographer during his time at the daily newspaper Delo in the 1970s. By coincidence, his co-worker fell ill on the day of photographing Tito’s arrival in Predoslje, and Žnidaršič’s photographs of the event impressed the editorial office (and Tito) so much, he began taking shots of him everywhere.[1] He followed him all over the world, including on his famous visit to the Great Wall of China, Non-Aligned countries such as Sri Lanka, and elsewhere.[2]
Since the very conception of the medium of photography, leaders of great countries were usually accompanied by numerous photographers. It served the promotion of their governments ever since the 19th century, when queen Victoria issued a photographic album of carte-de-visite portraits which hit record sales in England.[3] Because of its specific nature of depicting “the objective”, photography was a powerful medium for revealing the “truth”. The latter was clearly easily manipulated with the right modes of orchestration but was still perceived as the most truthful in the eyes of the public. As was the case for all distinguished leaders of the time, Tito was well aware of photography’s power. These types of images helped establish a cult of personality, which spread quickly amongst the people of Yugoslavia. It had a clear function of promoting ideology through images and gaining support of the people, who were able to identify with numerous representations of Tito – Tito with pets, children, observing exhibitions, nature, and even while relaxing with a glass of whiskey or a cigar. The series of images showing Tito photographing, however, is much less known.
The fascinating aspect of Žnidaršič’s photographs is the fact that he captured moments other photographers haven’t noticed, or perhaps haven’t considered important. He never made official, rigid images of politicians, but preferred to present them as he did ordinary people, for example in his moving series of the impoverished people of Kozjansko. Thus, a number of photographs depicting Tito in unconventional scenarios was created. Among them, a series of presidential portraits focused on his relationship with the camera. Tito loved to take photos, which is visible for example in the photograph from Dražgoše, where he is handing one of his polaroids to General Vidovič on the spot. In an interview, Žnidaršič told the newspaper Delo that Tito once commented on his camera, saying he owned a better one. He replied that this may be true, but he was a better photographer. A delicate statement was thankfully met with laughter from Tito’s wife Jovanka.[4]
Beside its advertising function, Tito was also aware of photography’s artistic potential. Republic exhibitions of photography were frequent and important events, which by themselves spoke volumes of the president’s love of photography. Now for the first time, he is presented as a photographer himself. These photographs were not part of a narrative of propaganda, but instead show Yugoslavia’s president engaged in a perhaps slightly unusual hobby. As Bogdan Pogačnik wrote about Žnidaršič’s photographs: ''Even though the collection shows – whether Tito is by himself or in the company of others – only one person, this presentation is never imbued with regime ideology or stylistically pathetic, but always gentle and democratic, simple and straightforward''.[5] In certain photographs, it seems as if Žnidaršič is photographing Tito and vice versa, while both are exuding joy behind the camera – one with a smile and camera in hand as subject of the image, the other as its passionate documentarist. Through the double lens of photographer and his subject, Joco Žnidaršič’s photographs remind us of a fascinating man, an intriguing time in history and a universal love of photography.
Hana Čeferin
[1] Veso STOJANOV, Telefoto je bil včasih tudi norišnica, Delo, 25. 2. 2019 (available at: https://www.delo.si/novice/slovenija/tele-je-bil-vcasih-tudi-norisnica-150764.html).
[2] Tadej GOLOB, Joco Žnidaršič: "Fotografija je danes tudi galerijsko blago, zlasti v Ameriki!", Metropolitan, 24. 5. 2007 (available at: https://www.metropolitan.si/scena/joco-znidarsic/).
[3] More in: Helmut GERNSHEIM – Alison GERNSHEIM, The History of Photography, London 1969.
[4] Veso STOJANOV, Telefoto je bil včasih tudi norišnica, Delo, 25. 2. 2019 (available at: https://www.delo.si/novice/slovenija/tele-je-bil-vcasih-tudi-norisnica-150764.html).
[5] Bogdan POGAČNIK, Uvod, in: Tito. Fotografije z obiskov predsednika Josipa Broza Tita v Sloveniji. 1974–1977, Ljubljana 1977.
O SERIJI
4. maja 1980 je v ljubljanskem Kliničnem centru umrl Josip Broz Tito, karizmatični vodja bivše države SFRJ. V državi praktično ni bilo tiskanega medija, ki o novici ne bi poročal, dogodek pa je opremil tudi naslovnice časopisov po vsem svetu, od Der Spiegela do New York Timesa. Številne med ikoničnimi fotografijami, ki so spremljale objave, pa so prav fotografije Joca Žnidaršiča, mojstra fotografije in po spletu okoliščin uradnega fotografa Tita na njegovih obiskih v Sloveniji.
Karierna pot Joca Žnidaršiča je prav tako zanimiva, kot fotograf sam. Nekdanji študent medicine je še v času študija začel reportersko pot pri časopisu Tribuna, kasneje pa pri Tovarišu in Delu. Je prvi fotograf, ki je leta 1977 za svoje delo, med drugim urednika fotografije pri Delu, prejel nagrado Prešernovega sklada. Istega leta pa je bil tudi prvi Slovenec, ki je dobil nagrado World Press Photo za dramatično sekvenco reševanja konja na poti na Triglav. Njegove fotografije so znane po uprizarjanju ljudi skozi najbolj iskren in humanizirajoč objektiv. Tega je usmerjal tako v napete fotoreportaže iraško-iranske vojne, letalske nesreče na Korziki, osamosvojitvene vojne v Sloveniji, pa tudi v portrete vodilnih politikov. Na fascinantno mesto Titovega fotografa je bil dodeljen v službi za časopis Delo v 70. letih. Po naključju je nadomestil sodelavca, ki je bil ravno na dan fotografiranja Tita ob njegovem obisku v Predosljah bolan, fotografije pa so bile uredništvu (in Titu) tako všeč, da ga je od takrat naprej fotografiral povsod.[1] Spremljal ga je po vsem svetu, mu sledil na slavni obisk Kitajskega zidu, v države neuvrščenih, kot je Šri Lanka, in drugam.[2]
Voditelji velikih držav so imeli od samega izuma medija ob sebi mnogo fotografov, propagandi njihovih vlad pa je fotografija služila že vsaj od 19. stoletja, ko je angleška kraljica Viktorija izdala fotografski album svojih carte-de-visite portretov, ki je postal prodajni hit v Angliji.[3] Zaradi svoje specifične narave uprizarjanja objektivnega je bila fotografija močan medij za sporočanje »resnice«. Ta je bila jasno lahko zmanipulirana s kadriranjem in uprizarjanjem, a v očeh javnosti še vedno najbolj verodostojna. Tito se je, kot velja za vse velike vodje držav tega časa, dobro zavedal njene moči. Njegove fotografije so pomagale ustvarjati pravi kult osebnosti, ki se je hitro razširil med prebivalci SFRJ. Imele so jasno funkcijo širjenja podobe, ideologije in pridobivanja podpore pri ljudstvu, ki se je lahko istovetilo z mnogoterimi podobami Tita - Tito s psički, otroci, pri gledanju razstav, narave, pa tudi sproščenega, s kozarcem viskija ali cigaro. Veliko manj znana pa je množica fotografij Tita, ki fotografira tudi sam.
Pri Žnidaršičevih fotografijah je zanimivo prav to, da je fotografiral tudi takšne prizore, ki jih drugi fotografi morda niso opazili, ali pa jih niso smatrali za pomembne. Nikoli ni delal protokolarnih, togih slik politikov, temveč jih je želel predstaviti na način, na kakršnega je fotografiral običajne ljudi, na primer v ganljivi seriji revnih prebivalcev Kozjanskega. Tako je nastala cela množica podob, ki Tita predstavljajo v nekonvencionalnih kadrih. Med njimi je serija portretov predsednika, ki je osredotočena prav na njegov odnos s fotoaparatom. Zelo rad je namreč fotografiral tudi sam in na fotografiji iz Dražgoš admiralu Vidoviču npr. na mestu predaja svoje polaroide. Med drugim je Žnidaršič za časopis Delo dejal, da mu je Tito nekoč pripomnil, da ima boljši fotoaparat od njega. Joco je nazaj pripomnil, da on pa bolje fotografira. Sicer kočljiva izjava je k sreči naletela na smeh predsednikove žene Jovanke.[4]
Poleg propagandne funkcije fotografije, se je Tito zavedal tudi njenega umetniškega potenciala. Republiške razstave fotografije so bile pogosti in pomembni dogodki, ki so že sami po sebi kazali na predsednikovo ljubezen do fotografskega medija. Prvič pa je v seriji nenamernih portretov tudi sam predstavljen kot fotograf. Fotografije niso bile del propagandnega narativa, pač pa predstavljajo jugoslovanskega vodjo pri morda nenavadnem hobiju. Kot je ob Žnidaršičevih fotografijah Tita zapisal že Bogdan Pogačnik: ''Čeprav gre v zbirki - pa bodisi je Tito slikan sam ali v družbi z drugimi - v bistvu ves čas za lik enega človeka, ta predstavitev nikoli ni režimsko napihnjena, ni stilno patetična, ampak vselej blaga in demokratična, preprosta in neposredna''.[5] Na nekaterih fotografijah se zdi, kot da Žnidaršič fotografira Tita in Tito Žnidaršiča, oba pa izkazujeta veselje do medija - eden z nasmehom in kamero kot subjekt fotografije, drugi kot njen strastni dokumentarist. Skozi dvojni objektiv fotografa in fotografskega subjekta smo v fotografijah Joca Žnidaršiča opomnjeni na fascinantnega moža, razburljiv čas v zgodovini ter vsesplošno ljubezen do fotografije.
Hana Čeferin
[1] Veso STOJANOV, Telefoto je bil včasih tudi norišnica, Delo, 25. 2. 2019 (dostop na: https://www.delo.si/novice/slovenija/tele-je-bil-vcasih-tudi-norisnica-150764.html).
[2] Tadej GOLOB, Joco Žnidaršič: "Fotografija je danes tudi galerijsko blago, zlasti v Ameriki!", Metropolitan, 24. 5. 2007 (dostopno na: https://www.metropolitan.si/scena/joco-znidarsic/).
[3] Več v: Helmut GERNSHEIM – Alison GERNSHEIM, The History of Photography, London 1969.
[4] Veso STOJANOV, Telefoto je bil včasih tudi norišnica, Delo, 25. 2. 2019 (dostop na: https://www.delo.si/novice/slovenija/tele-je-bil-vcasih-tudi-norisnica-150764.html).
[5] Bogdan POGAČNIK, Uvod, v: Tito. Fotografije z obiskov predsednika Josipa Broza Tita v Sloveniji. 1974–1977, Ljubljana 1977.
ABOUT THE SERIES
On the 4th of May 1980, the charismatic leader of SFRY, Josip Broz Tito, died in Ljubljana’s Medical Centre. The event was widely reported on by domestic journalistic mediums, but was also adorning covers internationally, from Der Spiegel to New York Times. Among the iconic photographs of Tito which were published alongside the articles, numerous were the work of Joco Žnidaršič, a master of photography and, quite coincidentally, Tito’s designated photographer on his visits to Slovenia.
The career path of Joco Žnidaršič is just as interesting as the man himself. A former medical student, he began his photojournalistic path at the newspaper Tribuna, and continued at Tovariš and Delo. He was the first photographer who received the Prešeren Foundation award in 1977, including for his work as editor of photography at Delo. The same year, he became the first Slovene photographer to win the World Press Photo award for his dramatic sequence of photographs documenting the rescue of a horse on Triglav. His photographs are known to depict people through a profoundly sincere and humanizing lens. His camera was focused equally on gripping documentations of the Iran-Iraq war, the Corsica plane crash, the Slovenian War of Independence, as well as on portraits of the era’s leading politicians. He was assigned the fascinating position of Tito’s official photographer during his time at the daily newspaper Delo in the 1970s. By coincidence, his co-worker fell ill on the day of photographing Tito’s arrival in Predoslje, and Žnidaršič’s photographs of the event impressed the editorial office (and Tito) so much, he began taking shots of him everywhere.[1] He followed him all over the world, including on his famous visit to the Great Wall of China, Non-Aligned countries such as Sri Lanka, and elsewhere.[2]
Since the very conception of the medium of photography, leaders of great countries were usually accompanied by numerous photographers. It served the promotion of their governments ever since the 19th century, when queen Victoria issued a photographic album of carte-de-visite portraits which hit record sales in England.[3] Because of its specific nature of depicting “the objective”, photography was a powerful medium for revealing the “truth”. The latter was clearly easily manipulated with the right modes of orchestration but was still perceived as the most truthful in the eyes of the public. As was the case for all distinguished leaders of the time, Tito was well aware of photography’s power. These types of images helped establish a cult of personality, which spread quickly amongst the people of Yugoslavia. It had a clear function of promoting ideology through images and gaining support of the people, who were able to identify with numerous representations of Tito – Tito with pets, children, observing exhibitions, nature, and even while relaxing with a glass of whiskey or a cigar. The series of images showing Tito photographing, however, is much less known.
The fascinating aspect of Žnidaršič’s photographs is the fact that he captured moments other photographers haven’t noticed, or perhaps haven’t considered important. He never made official, rigid images of politicians, but preferred to present them as he did ordinary people, for example in his moving series of the impoverished people of Kozjansko. Thus, a number of photographs depicting Tito in unconventional scenarios was created. Among them, a series of presidential portraits focused on his relationship with the camera. Tito loved to take photos, which is visible for example in the photograph from Dražgoše, where he is handing one of his polaroids to General Vidovič on the spot. In an interview, Žnidaršič told the newspaper Delo that Tito once commented on his camera, saying he owned a better one. He replied that this may be true, but he was a better photographer. A delicate statement was thankfully met with laughter from Tito’s wife Jovanka.[4]
Beside its advertising function, Tito was also aware of photography’s artistic potential. Republic exhibitions of photography were frequent and important events, which by themselves spoke volumes of the president’s love of photography. Now for the first time, he is presented as a photographer himself. These photographs were not part of a narrative of propaganda, but instead show Yugoslavia’s president engaged in a perhaps slightly unusual hobby. As Bogdan Pogačnik wrote about Žnidaršič’s photographs: ''Even though the collection shows – whether Tito is by himself or in the company of others – only one person, this presentation is never imbued with regime ideology or stylistically pathetic, but always gentle and democratic, simple and straightforward''.[5] In certain photographs, it seems as if Žnidaršič is photographing Tito and vice versa, while both are exuding joy behind the camera – one with a smile and camera in hand as subject of the image, the other as its passionate documentarist. Through the double lens of photographer and his subject, Joco Žnidaršič’s photographs remind us of a fascinating man, an intriguing time in history and a universal love of photography.
Hana Čeferin
[1] Veso STOJANOV, Telefoto je bil včasih tudi norišnica, Delo, 25. 2. 2019 (available at: https://www.delo.si/novice/slovenija/tele-je-bil-vcasih-tudi-norisnica-150764.html).
[2] Tadej GOLOB, Joco Žnidaršič: "Fotografija je danes tudi galerijsko blago, zlasti v Ameriki!", Metropolitan, 24. 5. 2007 (available at: https://www.metropolitan.si/scena/joco-znidarsic/).
[3] More in: Helmut GERNSHEIM – Alison GERNSHEIM, The History of Photography, London 1969.
[4] Veso STOJANOV, Telefoto je bil včasih tudi norišnica, Delo, 25. 2. 2019 (available at: https://www.delo.si/novice/slovenija/tele-je-bil-vcasih-tudi-norisnica-150764.html).
[5] Bogdan POGAČNIK, Uvod, in: Tito. Fotografije z obiskov predsednika Josipa Broza Tita v Sloveniji. 1974–1977, Ljubljana 1977.
