To transform (oneself) 4
In brief: Life of every person is a try. Theories, dogmas, theses, laws are born thanks to the searchers. Enthusiasts and masters of photography commemorated the birth centenary of Povilas Karpavičius (b. in 1909 in Tbilisi – d. in 1986 in Kaunas) in 2009, the exhibition “Maestro Povilas Karpavičius (1909–1986)” was organised in Riga and biggest Lithuanian towns. Many publications dedicated to the master appeared in the press and it was emphasised how important it was to restore history of Lithuanian photography in detail, without forgetting photographers who used non-standard techniques. Still, after the jubilee year the personality and works of P. Karpavičius was forgotten little by little again.
The biggest part of the heritage of P.Karpavičius is stored in the collections of Šiauliai Aušra Museum – 1940 photographs and 270 negatives. They represent all creative periods and directions of the photographer, his searches and achievements. Nonetheless, no album of the author was published. People willing to try out innovative techniques applied by the photographer then are forced to search for old handbooks of P. Karpavičius “Practice of Colour Photography” and “Handbook of Photography”. Still, one should not forget that the teacher, inventor of various techniques, one of the biggest authorities of his time P. Karpavičius was also a photographer. The article is dedicated to the review of the photographer’s works, the essence of which was transformation.