According to Vilma Samulionytė, the head of the Lithuanian Photographers’ Union organizing the symposium, this year special attention will be given to women’s photographs and their creativity.
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“We are very pleased that V. Bubelytė and S. Michelkevičiūtė, who have had a huge impact on Lithuanian photography, will attend the symposium. In the artists’ presentations, we will also see the Czech legend L. Jarcovjáková, for whom photography was and remains the most important means to fight for freedom and self-expression,” says V. Samulionytė.
The body as a means of artistic expression
In Nida, one of the most prominent Lithuanian photographers of the 20th century, V. Bubelytė, will present her creative principles, centered on the body as a means of artistic expression. In her photographs, the naked body becomes a universal form, freed from social signs and allowing the creation of ambiguous narratives.
The artist’s presentation will discuss the long-term series by the author “Monospektaklis kitaip” (“Monologue Otherwise”), in which she simultaneously becomes a photographer, director, and actress. Her lecture will invite reconsidering photography not as a form of autobiography but as a space for exploring imagination, role, and human condition.
S. Michelkevičiūtė’s photography stands out for its original approach to the human being, especially to the male body and identity. Her best-known photo series “Woman about Men” breaks usual stereotypes and invites looking at men from a woman’s perspective.
“I will talk about my path as a photographer. I have always photographed what interested me. I have captured 40,000 frames looking at clouds from one spot, through the kitchen window. I paid the most attention to nude photography – wanting to capture and reveal the inner state of a person through hands, skin, movement, showing human sensitivity. I will talk about the relationship between the photographer and the model, building trust, respect for the person,” says S. Michelkevičiūtė.
Photography – both self-expression and therapy
L. Jarcovjáková, coming to Nida, will present photography as a personal survival strategy, a diary, and a testimony of lived experience. Covering intimate self-portraits, nightlife, social documentary, her works form a unique visual autobiography spanning several decades.
L. Jarcovjáková’s works have been presented at the prestigious Arles photography festival “Rencontres d’Arles,” and recently she gained international attention for the documentary film “I’m Not Everything I Want to Be” (dir. Klára Tasovská).
“Photography is an important means of self-expression for me, as well as self-therapy. In Nida, I would like to talk about my path in photography, emphasizing the importance of a personal approach and close connection with the photographed places and communities. I have always photographed various people on the margins of society. I really enjoy photographing at night and using flash,” says L. Jarcovjáková.
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One of the most famous Latvian photographers, Inta Ruka, will present three of her most important photography series, revealing the principles of long-term documentary work and consistent interest in people and their life stories.
Creative workshops, lectures, exhibitions
Besides the mentioned photographers, at the international symposium in Nida, creative paths will be discussed by Paris-based artist Raphaëlle Peria, Paulien Olheten from the Netherlands, Ukrainian photographer Oleksandras Hliadelovas, artist Visvaldas Morkevičius, and other photography masters.
Photography enthusiasts can look forward to three creative workshops. They will be led by the symposium resident, documentary photographer Simonas Chang living in Ljubljana, Lithuanian National Culture and Art Prize laureate Gintautas Trimakas, and independent curator and founder and artistic director of the AVARIE publishing house Giuliana Prucca.
Traditionally, during “NIDA. Meeting Photography,” several exhibitions will be displayed. On the steps of the writer Thomas Mann Memorial Museum, S. Chang’s exhibition “Notes by the Sea” will be presented; at the Curonian Spit History Museum – the 2025 Neringa Mayor’s Prize laureate Andrius Repšys’s photography series “White Trees”; and at the Mizgiriai Artists’ House – an exhibition of women photographers “From the LFS Archives about Nida.”
Moreover, participants of the photography symposium can expect topical lectures covering many subjects. Several will be dedicated to this year’s worldwide celebration of the 200th anniversary of photography as a medium.
One of the guests of the photography symposium – Florian Ebner, who heads the Photography Department at the Pompidou Center in Paris, will examine the impact of artificial intelligence and raise questions about the future of photography. The first steps of photography in Lithuania (1839-1855) will be reviewed by photography historian, Doctor of Humanities (Art History) Dainius Junevičius, and independent art critic Monika Krikštopaitytė will provide an analysis of various historical texts and articles about photography.
The international photography symposium “NIDA. Meeting Photography” will take place from September 14-20 in Nida.
