By: Jasmina Trajkov, museum advisor
The photo contest “Photography in the Museum – FUM” was held for the first time this year in May during the “Museums for 10” event. The invitation to participate was sent to photographers from Jagodina, but also to all visitors to the Regional Museum of Jagodina during the manifestation. The response was not satisfactory, but we had enough works to be able to organize a virtual exhibition of the most successful photos, accompanied by an electronic catalog. We presented diplomas and prizes to the winners of the competition.
The second photo contest “Photography in the museum – FUM autumn 2022” was held in the period from August 15 to September 18, 2022. The theme of the contest was “City of Jagodina” and it left a lot of space for photographers to present our city from different angles. It could be pictures of the old Jagodina, landscapes of the new city, city flora and fauna, and there was also an optional free category that allowed authors to create free compositions with the only condition that the photos reflect the uniqueness of Jagodina.
The submitted works were evaluated by a jury consisting of: Boris Airo, professional photographer (Cologne), Jasmina Trajkov, art historian, museum advisor (Regional Museum of Jagodina), Đorđe Filipović, designer (Regional Museum of Jagodina) and Milosav Brajković, museum photographer (Regional Museum of Jagodina ). The judging took place on September 21, 2022. The highest number of points from the jury was won by a photo by Gordana Obradović, to whom we heartily congratulate and thank her for participation. We also thank Nebojša Petrović, Miloš Jovanović, Saša Lukić, Mira Stojković-Stojanović and Dušan Stojanović for their participation. And we will stop here, because these are actually all the participants of our competition, which received a total of 36 photos. The small number of received photos made it impossible for us to organize the exhibition and the accompanying catalog. We certainly know that many more people are actively engaged in photography in Jagodina, but they did not respond to our invitation this time, as well as during the first contest. We also know that everyone in Jagodina who is involved in photography already has a photo in their archive that shows some motif from our city.
The famous photographer Ansel Adams said: “The single most important component of a camera is the twelve inches behind it.” It looks like Adams is poking gentle fun of those of people who are obsessed with photography gear. What Adams is referring to, of course, is our brains. Yes, the camera records the image, but photographers are the ones making the decisions about what’s going to be in the picture. But in Adams’ mind, gear was secondary and the artist’s vision was primary. It seems that the photographers from Jagodina had a serious malfunction in the most important part of the camera. It is futile to think about what aperture to set, what shutter speed, what depth of field will be, which lens to choose, which ISO… The component that needs to be worked on, that needs to be improved and perfected is exactly the one who uses camera.
Half a century ago, a photo club successfully worked in Jagodina, and its members received awards not only at the club’s exhibitions, but also at national exhibitions. Today, we do not have the heirs of these people. We can freely say that the Jagodina photography scene died a long time ago, and the younger generations have no desire to restore that scene and rise above the dilettantism and commercialism in which they swim more or less successfully. The safe harbor of social networks and anonymity where we are all the best photographers and where we have those who will like our posts and photos is the ultimate reach of those who are currently engaged in photography in our city.
Our museum tried to revive the city’s photo scene by launching the photo contest “Photography in the Museum”. Those who are engaged in photography had the opportunity to present their work first on our website, and then the plan was to organize an exhibition in our gallery, which they themselves certainly wished for. As “Photography in the Museum –FUM autumn 2022” showed, it was all in vain. There was no response to our call for cooperation. We continue on, expanding beyond the territory of our city. We will send an invitation to participate in the photo contest to photographers from all over Serbia. On the eve of Museum Day, we will organize a photo contest, and we will also provide funds for the realization of a photo exhibition in the museum gallery. We are moving on…!
