The city pulsating in photographer Milda Kiaušaitė's veins 1

Interview by Jurga Tumasonytė
www.kamane.lt, 2016-09-02
Photographer Milda Kiaušaitė. Matas Laužadis' photo.

In brief: "I live and work among people of culture who surround me since childhood, thus, you could say, I have created at least a some kind of oasis to shield me from political madness," says photographer Milda Kiaušaitė who is currently working as a secretary at the Kaunas branch of the Lithuanian Writers' Association. We are talking about the city, art, film cameras, protests, kitsch, photographs frozen in the memory and today.

 

I was interested to know if the photographer thinks artists should be more politically active. Milda Kiaušaitė says she had not noticed that artists lack political activism. "Almost every interview with artists reveal a recurrent criticism of cultural politics and a view of the artist and his "usefulness." Artist is not a holy cow mooing into Gods ear. Anyone who cares about one or the other problem and understand how he or she is affected by it should express their opinion," says the photographer.

Artist says she does not consider herself to be a recognized photographer, "however, I held exhibitions, but I would say, maybe one too many. I am gradually learning to feel the sense of proportion, to choose more wisely. I do not know how to advertise, to sell myself, but sometimes I want to invite someone for conversation, to find the like-minded people. My photography is not state-of-the-art relevant, reflecting the current political, social or geographical processes. I am interested in hunting the light and its unexpected gifts; I am learning to analyze time, memory, thinking and ultimately, myself."

 

I was curious to learn what camera is most often used by the photographer for her artistic photos. Milda Kiaušaitė says, "I rarely use the digital camera in my work. Usually I do it when a failure or a mistake would cost not only my own, but the photographed person's time. I admire film photography, the range of its mistakes, accidents, surprises and discoveries. Most of the series are created using the old Zenit camera that used to belong to my brother - the same camera I started photographing with at fourteen."

 

I wanted to know how Milda Kiaušaitė would describe her generation. The photographer says she would not be able to have a strict description, because it consists of a multitude of different people. "It is hard to generalize, especially, since I cannot do so objectively (can anyone ever come to a really objective conclusion?). I would think that the biggest shift in thinking is that this generation is looking to the West (or rather to the whole wide world); there are no sentiments for the Soviet relics, culture and understanding of the world," says the photographer.

 

From the series Interviews with young Kaunas artists


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