Lietuvos etnografinės fotografijos kūrėjai: Adomas Varnas ir Balys Buračas
ENEthnographic photography is one of the most important subjects in the history of Lithuanian photography, matured by historical, national, cultural and political development. Ethnographic photography development is directly dependent on the political system and its ideology, on modern world factors and technical possibilities of photography. In 1918–1940, during the development of photography in Lithuania a growing difference between the craft and art of photography appeared. The creative activities of major Lithuanian cities – Vilnius and Kaunas – with their centers of science, culture and art had a significant impact on it. It is worth noting that Lithuania photographers were engaged not only in practical, but also in educational activities: they founded photography societies, organized courses for amateur photographers, held exhibitions not only in Lithuania, but also abroad, discussed in the press about the necessity to recognize photography as art. These photographers were not only great art of photography enthusiasts, but also educated, openminded, people having a clear goal and realizing that photography can contribute to cultural and artistic life of Lithuania. Two of such Lithuanian photography enthusiasts were the end of the 19th-century famous artist, photographer, painter, graphic artist and ethnographer Adomas Varnas and the early 20th-century pioneer of ethnographic, genre Lithuanian photography Balys Buračas. Their creative work was an important contribution to the history of Lithuanian photography. These photographers are noteworthy for their forward-looking concept of the necessity to show ethnographic and cultural Lithuania in the context of modernizing Europe, and for their creative work which had a major impact on the further development of Lithuanian artistic photography, so they are worthy of art criticism analysis.
