Janez Korošin: City Rituals
11 February – 19 March 2021
As a photographer and one of the most important representatives of Fotogrupa Ljubljana ŠOLT, Janez Korošin was perhaps not as well known as some of his contemporaries, although he deserves high praise for his extensive oeuvre and his keen understanding of photographic technique. For this reason, and on the occasion of his 85th birthday, we wanted to draw attention to his work at Photon Gallery and present some lesser-known aspects of his oeuvre that demonstrate a skillful handling of the technical, documentary and expressive qualities of this medium.
Janez Korošin (1935, Ljubljana) took his first steps in the world of photography at the age of seventeen at Ravne na Koroškem-based Fotoklub under the mentorship of Franci Kamnik. He worked as a chemical technician at Ravne Steelworks, and after serving the military, he got employed at the Jožef Stefan Institute in Ljubljana. There he met Marjan Smerke who introduced him to artistic and exhibition photography. This led to his more serious involvement in photography. In 1966 he became a member of Fotoklub Ljubljana and Fotogrupa Šolt which eventually joined and formed Fotogrupa Ljubljana Šolt in 1968. He remained the club’s member until its dissolution in the 1990s. In 1997 he joined the Slovenian Photographic Society. Korošin’s work was widely recognized locally and abroad. He was awarded with the Candidate Master of Photography title by the Yugoslav Photographic Association in 1973 and later the title Master of Photography in 1977. The International Federation of Photographic Art (FIAP) presented him with the Artiste FIAP distinction (AFIAP) in 1975, which was later followed by the FIAP Excellency distinction (EFIAP) in 2000. The Slovenian Photographic Association bestowed him the Janez Puhar award for lifetime achievements in the field of photography in 1996. In his long photography career, Korošin participated in a number of solo and group exhibitions both at home and abroad. A retrospective exhibition of his work was held at Cankarjev dom in 2015 to mark the artist’s 80th jubilee.
Within the aforementioned Fotogrupa Ljubljana ŠOLT, the photographers shared common grounds in terms of technical approaches to photography and motifs, however, Korošin pursued a style of his own distinguished by original artistic expression. His extensive body of works covers a great variety of motifs, although, in public, Korošin is best known for his landscape photography. The main focus of the exhibition organized by Photon is the artist’s not so well-known works that capture glimpses of Ljubljana’s urban life. Among others, the public will be presented with some of his completely unfamiliar works, and touch upon Korošin’s ultimate mastery in documenting. Shots were mostly made in the 1970s and 80s at different events, be it traditional Labour Day celebrations on Rožnik, pilgrimage to the Church of Mary Help of Christians at Rakovnik, national parades or horse races and other sports events from the period. His camera also captured random scenes from regular urban life. The works selected highlights the artist’s subtlety in composition and mastery in creating the atmosphere indicative of original creative approaches and new visual solutions. Thus, the exhibited photographs possess both high artistic and documentary value.
Exhibition City Rituals on RTV SLO (Slovene)
City Rituals, 1970 – 1980
40 x 50 cm with paspartout and framed, silver gelatin print
Original vintage prints from 1970-ies
Price: 750 €
