Exhibition opening: November 7, 2024, at 6 p.m
On view until: January 12, 2024 in the lobby of the Knights’ Hall
Author of the exhibition: Katarina Jurjavčič, museum consultant
In 1972, at a ŠOLT club exhibition, a grainy technique was included among the “fresh approaches of a different young man”, to which the critic Janez Dobeic attributed such effectiveness that it should “unreservedly stand as one of the moments of new starting points.” The photo by the photo group Ljubljana – ŠOLT definitely drew attention with this new approach, but unfortunately its duration was short-lived.
Coarse-grained photography was already an established practice within the Ljubljana photography circle in the sixties of the 20th century. In addition to graininess, (dark) contrasts were also emphasized, i.e., “black photography”. Janez Korošin was undoubtedly an exceptional master in both. Together with the technical complexity, an attractive artistic element can also be seen. Korošin encountered coarse-grained photography for the first time in 1969, when he saw an article in Popular Photography magazine about the process of producing fine grain from Kodak 3-XPan film (400 ASA, 27 DIN). That year’s Photography Yearbook 1969 featured several grainy portraits that further caught his attention. ŠOLT quickly became interested in this type of technique, which further expanded when they were able to use Kodak 4-XPan 120 m film, 32 DIN, 1600 ASA. The film, which was originally intended for the Ariflex film camera, became an experiment for many coarse-grained photographs that were produced later. The extremely sensitive film was useful for shooting in diffused light. The film was then slightly underexposed with the partial use of an orange filter. The third aid in the process was a paper developer, in which the photo was developed for two to three minutes. The grain effect appeared especially at higher magnifications or when cutting out details, even when using a hard grade of photo paper. The first exhibition of this kind of photography was presented by Tone Stojko and Janez Pukšič. The first showed footage of the World Basketball Championship in Tivoli Hall, while the second was thematically related to a Jazz Festival in Križanke. Korošin exhibited his coarse-grained photographs for the first time in 1973 in Golnik. Tone Stojko wrote about him at the time: “Janez Korošin is the photographer of the moment. (…) What he captures are only tiny snippets from a very simple life. No pretense, no coquettishness, no sloppiness anywhere. (…)”. People have always been at the centre of Janez Korošin’s interest. His favorite motifs are children or the elderly, and the decisive moment when pressing the shutter button is always the photographer’s clear vision of what he wants to convey to the viewer with his photograph. Sometimes he was attracted by the poverty in the immediate vicinity of his own home, looked for the wisdom reflected in the eyes of older people, intercepted the playfulness of youth, or simply questioned the viewer of his photographs about the burden of life. Korošin was able to show the depths of the human soul in a very direct way and thus achieved the great confessional power of his recordings.
About the author
Janez Korošin was born on August 12, 1935, and started working with photography at the age of seventeen, when he joined the Ravne na Koroškem Photo Club under the mentorship of Franco Kamnik. He was employed as a chemist at the Jožef Štefan Institute, where he met Marjan Smerket, who introduced him to the world of photography and became his mentor and good friend. In 1966, Korošin became a member of the Ljubljana Photo Club, which merged with the ŠOLT Photo Group in 1968. He remained here until the mid-nineties, when the club ceased operations. He was also a member of the Mosta Photo Group until 1997, when he was admitted to the Society of Photographers of Slovenia. He received a number of recognitions and awards: in 1996, the Janez Puhar Lifetime Achievement Award from the Photographic Association of Slovenia and, at the end of 2000, thanks to the International Federation Photographic Art FIAP, he received the title of FIAP Excellency. Janez Korošin’s photographic material, together with the author’s documentation and an archive of publications about the author, have been kept in the National Museum of Contemporary History of Slovenia since November 2, 2023.
We sincerely thank the author for the trust shown, and the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia for the financial support in approving the purchase.
The exhibition was made possible by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia.