Zmago Jeraj 's series of photographs on the theme of Carnival spans thirty years. The first photographs were taken by chance, merely for the artist's personal archive, with no intention of exhibiting them. Moreover, the initially opportune subject matter was not considered potentially valuable for sustained creative interest. Over time, however, the number of images of figures and scenes associated with Carnival grew and developed into a series. The majority of the shots were taken in the Slovenian town of Ptuj, known for its carnival parade and for the unique carnival figure of "kurent" and its companions. After 1984, when a carnival festival was also organized in Maribor, Jeraj began documenting events in both cities. He focused on masked figures appearing alone or isolated in a crowd of ordinarily dressed people, or on small groups of costumed figures accompanied by random companions. He was interested in homemade costumes, which were often clumsily fashioned and gave a clear indication of the person's ingenuity, skill, and finances. Although Jeraj creates his visual reality with his choice of the event and the moment of freezing it in time, his series of photographs is not without traits of reportage photography and its verism. The outskirts of the center of Ptuj with derelict industrial buildings provide a suitable setting for these images. The emphasis on the banality of the setting robs the carnival figures of their power and creates the semantic concept that prevails throughout the series Carnival Figures and aims to degrade the spectacularity of the figures in various ways. It is thus expressed only with vague allusions to the marginal significance of the costume in relation to the prosaic whole, underlining the futility of the figure's presence. Author: Zmago Jeraj Text: Milojka Kline Publisher: Umetnostna galerija Maribor Year: 1996 Hard cover, 78 pages Print run: 500 Language: english, slovene Dimensions: 30 x 21 cm      

The Back to Black project is set up as an international project in which Photon joins the global trend of reviving interest in black-and-white, analog and the so-called hybrid photography, and especially in contemporary, creative use of old photographic techniques. In modern times, these are often associated with the use of contemporary technologies, which expand the creative field of application and bring original solutions even in today’s mostly digital time. This research is in terms of content focused on representing different approaches of contemporary artists to the medium which was not long ago predicted to go extinct. There has been an incredible turnaround in recent years as the popularity of analog and black-and-white photography has begun to revive. Analog photography, that was thought as obsolete, is experiencing a renaissance, especially among young people. Wide and renewed interest in analog photography can be seen especially on social media, where large communities with millions of followers have sprung up in the last few years. Also in the field of artistic photography, where the practice of hybrid photography has already prevailed in the last two decades, this trend is well adopted, especially among young photographic artists. Today, they use all the technologies and tools available, and the works are a combination of the latest technologies and the oldest photographic techniques. A part of this rich practice, which is so hearty enriched and re-thought with photographic history, can also be seen in this exhibition and catalog. Editor: Špela Pipan Author of the texts: Dejan Sluga Participating artists: Balázs Deim, Alessandra D’intino, Jošt Dolinšek, Lena Feitl, Elí Joteva, Reiner Riedler, Peter Koštrun, Roberto Kusterle, Borut Peterlin, Eva Petrič, Herman Pivk Design: Jure Legac Translators: Melita Silič, Deja Bečaj Publisher: Photon – Center za sodobno fotografijo Year: 2022 Softcover, 47 pages Edition: 200 copies Language: English, Slovene Dimensions: 18 x 18 cm