Daily life stories in photos by Algimantas Kunčius

“I am marginal - neither a pure citizen nor a pure villager, because the structures of both these different spaces have become a part of my identity.” Algimantas Kunčius.

Photographer Algimantas Kunčius was born in 1939. August 14 In Pakruojis. 1963-1965. photojournalist for the weekly Literature and the Arts, 1965-1981. Head of the Illustrations Section of the Culture Bar magazine, 1992-1998. editor of the photography section of this magazine. 1982-1992 Consultant of the Lithuanian Union of Photography Art. 1996-2002 Head of the Photography Art Department of the Fine Arts Department, Lithuanian Art Museum. Created genre portraits, landscape photographs. Photographs are emotional, stand out in their philosophical approach to everyday phenomena, expressive texture. Since 1967 he has participated in photography exhibitions in Lithuania and abroad. Since 1976 Artist photographer for the International Federation of Artistic Photography. 1998 1969 founded the Lithuanian Society of Photography Art (with the Lithuanian Photo Artists' Union since 1989). 1998 In 2001 she was awarded the Lithuanian National Prize for Culture and Art. - Knight's Cross of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas.

“I go and think, thinking - I see, and when I see - I paint. It all starts with seeing, and the first conscious impressions are also visual: from childhood we remember what we saw and what stuck in consciousness. Through photography I tried to understand and name what I see and feel. Basically all my photography is jazz ... Photography is a hint that opens up endless content. This is not about capturing "beautiful images", but a sense of what first of all acts to the beholder through his or her memory, senses, cultural or natural sensations ... I can no longer imagine taking a picture, just capturing my own thoughts, observations, and surprises, so I don’t forget anything. ”
“The phenomenon of photography provides an opportunity not only to participate in history, but also to capture, preserve and remember it.” Algimantas Kunčius.

In one interview, Algimantas Kunčius mentioned when he started taking pictures: “When I was fifteen years old, my father bought my first camera in Kaunas. It was Broadband Broadband. There is also a photo of me hanging my camera around my neck. Just think, this is 1954 ... Father was the first to reveal the secrets of developing bands. Soon I started to take intensive photography and in Pakruojis I was friends with my mother's closest friend son, three-year-old Algis Venslauskas, with whom we set up a photo lab in the attic of his parents' house. Here I learned how to work with chemistry, paper, and brighteners. Since then, there has been an awareness in my mind that the work of a photographer does not end with photography, and that the subtleties and quality of the imaging work in the laboratory. So far, I've been printing my own photos, and it gives me great peace of mind. Everything must be like in church ... (laughs). Often colleagues have called for photo printing to be passed on to students, but I can't - for me it's a seamless creative process. "
Travel with Bernardinai.lt 2016 No. IV (36). A. Kunčius was interviewed by Gediminas Kajėnas.

The text is based on the personal file of A. Kunčius in the library of the Lithuanian Union of Art Photographers and information published on the Internet.