3^rd International Salon of Photography: PANNONIA REFLECTIONS 2016

INVITATION

The Gallery-Museum Lendava and the Pannonia Photo Club kindly invites you and your friends to the opening of the exhibition of the

Pannonia Reflections,
3^rd International Salon of Photography

which will be held on 3^rd Febuary 2017 at 6 pm in Lendava Castle.

Opening speech by János Eifert, artist photographer (AFIAP, EsFIAP).

The exhibition is on view until 5 March 2017.

ABOUT THE SALON AND THE EXHIBITION:

Fine art photography is much more than just an art of the moment; it is also the art of thinking

The history of photography intertwines with the history of international tenders and exhibitions organised based on and funded from these tenders. After Henry Fox Talbot introduced the London Royal Society the negative-positive photographic process on 31 January 1839 and Joseph Nicéphore Niépce and Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre presented the method of »fixing« photographic images at the joint meeting of the Academy of Science and Academy of Arts, which was held in Paris on 19 August 1839, it became evident that photography was already on the verge of conquering the world.

From that moment on we knew that photography was the biggest invention of the 19th century that gave its fans the opportunity to engage in a diverse activity that uses different themes and genres and applies a number tools and techniques. Even though this might take you by surprise photography focuses physics, chemistry, geology, astronomy, anatomy, psychology, technics and aesthetics, humans, their environment and much more. Regardless of whether we »apply« it as a craft, art, science, religion or a communication tool, it always presents the means to depict and explore the world and the people in it.

In the past amateurs were strictly distinguished from professional photographers, while today – especially when we refer to paintings as art – the photographers’ official status is hardly relevant. Whoever has talent can self-study this art and with enough experience obtain the tools he/she will require for prospering in this craft/art and performing it on a really high level.

How do different photographers photograph? The most suitable way to prove ones talent is to introduce it to the public, to apply for tenders and participate on exhibitions. 148 photographers put their work on display at the Paris exhibition in 1859, where photographers as an independent section introduced their pieces of art for the first time. And now, thanks to the organizer Photographic Society Pannonia, and patronages benefits of the FIAP, PSA and FZS – 4419 photographs from 360 authors from 57 countries arrived at the 3^rd Pannonia Reflections 2016 exhibition.

It took the jury several days to study and categorise each photo and by grading them with points from 1-9 prepare a short list of approximately 1000 photos. After the second assessment of the selected photos and a discussion between the jury members we picked out the best 1000 photographs. As president of the jury I felt splendid. The jury members, Stefi P. Borko and Vinko Šebrek, accessed all of the arrived photographs with a similar rigor and competences, so there was no need for me to intervene and exercise my right as jury President to enforce my decision or supersede my vote. We did not assess the photographs based on our own taste, because we wanted to give space and opportunity to artists with different artistic concepts, styles and tendencies flourishing in different countries and cultures across the globe. And that is why the exhibited photographs, including the rewarded ones, provide an insight into the world, whose beauty and tensions are expressed in a photographic language and shaped with aesthetic and technical tools and are displayed as pieces of art.

Today the purpose of photography is not just to document or precisely mirror the world around us, for besides perpetuating events and moments in peoples’ lives it can also show an emotional state, someone’s mood and dimensionally- decorative adventures. Photography is perusing the truth, but it is also important in the process of searching for beauty. We can certainly say that fine art photography is more than just an art of the moment, for it is also the art of thinking.

Responsible thinking and emotional wealth that goes hand in hand with artistic complexity can be found in the paintings of Weihua Huang, Leonid Goldin, Csörögi Dóra, Törköly József, Peng Li, Yongxiong Ling, Liljana Petruša, Choi-Cheun Lam, Daniel Lybaert, Harry Daemen, Isolde Stein-Leibold, Hussain Alabdullatif, Ole Suszkiewicz, Chun Yip Chau, Chris Discart, Rodica Tanase, Abdulla ALMushaifri, Cantemir Aron Mandru, Deqiang Zhang, Elizabeth Kodela, Hanju Zhu, Keith Elgin, Serhii Shchehlevatyh, Tatsiana Tsyhanova, Ilona Veresk, Hong Li, Shiu Gun Wong, Antoni Marin Amattler, Hansa Tangmanpoowadol, Jordi Egea Torrent, Petar Sabol, Marcel van Balken, Marjan Artnak, Dušan Ignác, Peter Rees, Hedvika Gumilar, Vasja Doberlet, Abdulhakim Alojaili and other artists.

The success of the 3^rd Pannonia Reflections 2016 International Salon of Photography is most of all assured by the high-quality photos we received and we should give the Photographic Society Pannonia and its members whose caring and professional work and experiences made this exhibition possible all the credit for it. We should also congratulate the organizers for hosting an event on such a high international level and for taking care of the attractive and nicely designed 96-page catalogue that was created to accompany and enrich the exhibition that will be hosted in the premises of the amazing Gallery-Museum Lendava.

And finally, do not forget that fine art photography is much more than just an art of the moment – it is the art of thinking.

János Eifert
AFIAP, EsFIAP Photographer • President of the Jury

INVITATION GRAPHICS