Daily Life Revisited

Daily Life Revisited

Draft project outline

From the time he started taking serious photographs in 1959 until the last Soviet troops left Lithuania in 1993, the Lithuanian photographer Antanas Sutkus (b.1939) worked intermittently on a large project recording daily life in his native land. The project culminated in the extraordinary book, Daily Life Archives (Kasdienybės Archyvai), published in 2003 by the Union of Lithuanian Photographers of which Sutkus was a founder member in 1969. In the book’s introduction, the photographer notes (with the help of a not particularly competent translator) that:

• All have equal rights to daily life; there is no need for a Daily Life Defense Committee! Persistently trying to keep pace with the present day we have learned to contemplate, to meditate and many other splendid things. And maybe observation of daily life is a form of meditation open to all of us? Meditation, which does not need schools or guru. Daily Life has got lost among phone calls, important meetings, electronic information, and political scandals. Do I need it?

I personally believe the answer to this question is quite definitely Yes. I think we all need it.

My own Daily Life Revisited project utilises infinitely different technologies and techniques to that of the original, whilst staying true to Mr Sutkus’ fundamental observations and beliefs. Timed to coincide with this year’s 1,00th anniversary of the first use of the word Lithuania in written texts, Daily Life Revisited marks the end of two years photographing ordinary Lithuanians with the aid of a simple, two-megapixel Nokia mobile phone.

The 60 images that accompany this short piece of writing show where the project is at. Daily Life Revisited could (and might) go on for years. However, with a deadline of December 2 to turn in a completed project, it’s time to start putting everything together into a coherent collection.

Interestingly, despite my choice of technology, Daily Life Revisited will be presented as a classic exhibition of (albeit rather small) prints.

Sco

Vilnius. October 19, 2009