The Center of Jewish Cultural Heritage Synagogue Maribor is a partner of the international Maribor Festival of Photography, which is traditionally held in September. This year we are hosting an exhibition by Dušan Gajšek titled “Behind the Fog”.
Nature often offers a gentle overlap of the world around us. Fog is one of the phenomena that has always aroused artistic and poetic thinking about the world. It covers just enough of our environment to be overwhelmed by its mystery and encourages us to think about how things and thoughts are hidden. Forced to look only at what is still visible, we look at ourselves, while the surroundings change into in-depth symbols filled with meaning. When we cannot see everything, we look even more consecrated, and we are overwhelmed by the mysterious peace and silence that go hand in hand with foggy days. The spontaneously created focus of nature highlights what we need to see, what motivates us to see the world through a new perspective. It allows us a moment without excessive impulses so that we can dreamily understand our surroundings and thus ourselves. We wonder what is behind the fog that we see, and the fog, which we unconsciously carry within us. A short time creates a bridge between the known and the unknown hence the latter is made even more enticing, worth exploring. The thoughts that guide us through the covered parts of ourselves are projected onto the soft whiteness and allow it to remind us of crossing boundaries within us, with childlike curiosity and a gently present fear of new discoveries. With almost pictorialist digital photographs, Dušan Gajšek shows the grace and allure of the fog and the places and people that surrounded and awakened them.
Dušan Gajšek (1948, Celje) has spent his childhood years in Rogaška Slatina, where he also finished primary school. Later, he attended the Secondary School of Technics in Celje. As a mechanical technician, he was employed by the Rogaška Slatina Glassworks where he worked at the department of design, which was headed by Prof. Goldoni. After two years, he began studying at Maribor High School of Technics and eventually became the mechanical engineer. During his studies, he also learned about photography, including the various stages of photography, film development, and black-and-white photography. Later, on his travels, he devoted himself mainly to the photography of photo-slides and filming with a video camera. Finally, he got a job as a designer at Maribor’s Metalna and began using photography as an aid in his engineering work. With the development of digital technology, he also began to deal with computer photo processing. In 2012, he became an active member of Maribor Photo Club, whereby the membership in the club enabled him to acquire new knowledge about photographic techniques. In his photographic work, he also pays special attention to learning about the rules of photographic composition. So far, he has had eight solo exhibitions, as well as has participated in several photography workshops, groups exhibitions and competitions organised by Maribor Photo Club. For his photographic work, he has received two awards and many honorary mentions.
Text adapted from: https://www.fotoklub-maribor.si/festival/2021/07/19/za-meglo/.
The main organiser of Maribor Festival of Photography 2021 is Maribor Photo Club.
