Irena Giedraitienė
© Irena Giedraitienė, Self-Portrait
A Life With A Photo Camera
(this text is by Eglė Deltuvaitė " A Woman With A Photo Camera" , Kultūros meniu, Vilnius, 2016)
It is my conviction that Irena Giedraitienė just cannot not take photographs. All evidence seems to show that the need for photography is simply in her nature.Her creative ideas flow unstoppably like water, touching a variety of topics. styles,and choices of photographic expressions,and never runningout. The photographs and the information surrounding them change themselves and effect change.
While other photographers of Giedraitienės generation have mostly been dedicating their time to sorting their archives, publishing monographs, and holding retrospective shows, she is still photographing at eighty, although everything she may have needed to prove has already been proven. Most of her series have no termination date - what if another chance presents itself to capture the perfect moment? Sometimes this reckless position can be difficult to understand, this disregard of everything, even life circumstances that are not at all conducive to creativity. I am not sure whether this is a survival gene installed by a difficult start in life, or principles taught later by the family, or maybe just her own essence.
Irena Giedraitienė was born on 14 January 1935 in Panevėžys, and began photograhing in 1955. Those were images of her parents or school friends, meant only to preserve memories. In the fateful year of 1956, Giedraitienė was supposed to participate in mass events at the Spartakiad of the Peoples in Moscow, with a group of young men and women from Kaunas. She took ill unexpectedly and could not take part in the high school competition, but ended up photographing it, thus creating one of her more imperssive series - The Spartakiad of the People. This was the beginning of a career that was difficult, but exceptional, given the Soviet times - that of a woman photographers. The brightest achievement of this career was the 1975 World Press Photo - 75 Golden Eye Award in General Features category for the image'' THE EVENING OF THE WEDDING DAY '' at gold medal, 1974.
Over those sixty years of creative work, Irena Giedraitienė was never able to dedicate herself solely to photography: work, family, and other concerns occupied most of her time, leaving only late nights for creativity. Yet despite the circumstances, photography was and remains the driving force of Giedraitienės life.
This part of Irena Giedraitienės archive is like a chronicle of mundane life in Soviet Lithuania, although the archive reflects more the positive, beautiful, and romantic part of life than the official.
There are few reflections of political life: communist parades or celebrations, party or committee meeting, or other themes valued and promoted by the socialist regime. On the other hand, Giedraitienės work is not characterized by critiques of the regime or the society, of people or their flaws. Her archive contains representations of eternal values and documents of the key events of a human life: weddings, funerals, children, celebrations, vacation days, meeting important or beloved people. Anything even slightly elevated above the gloomy reality of Soviet life. Personally a very kind, positive, open, and uncomplaining woman, Giedraitienė usualty points her lens at the beautiful and nice things, and even when she does touch on a sadder topic, she makes her camera avoid unnecessarily negative emotions or expressions.
I would like to srr this book as an alternative approach to Irena Giedraitienės work.It is a conscious choice to present rarely exhibited and published photographs;for some images, this is a debut platform which may. I hope give a new impression and perception of their authors place in the history of Lithuanian photography.
To me, Irena Giedraitienė is an example of stubborn survival, persistence, and inner strength. She simply records life and moves forward.
© Eglė Deltuvaitė 2016