ON THE ROAD. A retrospective photography exhibition by Romualdas Požerskis

The retrospective photography exhibition "On the Road" by Romualdas Požerskis, dedicated to the photographer's 75th birthday.

The works exhibited represent the long-standing and diverse creative output of Romualdas Požerskis. The exhibition offers an opportunity to explore different examples of the professor's work: humanistic, documentary, social, and landscape photography. Požerskis' photography cycles from different periods and themes are characterized by stylistic variety: from reportage-style captures to staged shots, from black-and-white classic photography to vibrant stories from travels abroad. On one hand, this demonstrates an unfading passion for photography, constant exploration, and the ability to change and discover new creative possibilities. On the other hand, the exhibition confirms that all of Požerskis' works, despite the diversity of genres and styles, are united by the humanistic values that form the core of his work – attention to the human being, their nature, and universal experiences.

Požerskis states: Images of my family, friends, travels, creative projects, and my entire 75-year life journey are captured in these photographs. Photography is a document of dead time. One moment we are warmly embracing a dear person, and the next, look – they are already in eternity. Photography unlocks and releases memories from the depths of the past. The past is like a forgotten dream, but photography has the power to revive it, to reopen a world that once existed. And photography also has the power to calm my rebellious, wandering, and sometimes self-tormenting soul.

Our life is a road from darkness to Light, from a blank page to a cosmos of experiences, from a confusion of feelings to the peace of the Spirit. A person's entire life is a Road. This metaphor best describes our existential state and gives meaning to our existence on this earth. <...>

The creative debut of Romualdas Požerskis, a professor at the Department of Contemporary Arts at the VMU Faculty of Arts, took place while he was studying at the Kaunas Polytechnic Institute (now Kaunas University of Technology), where in 1973 he held his first exhibition with fellow student Virgilijus Šonta (1952–1992), who later also became a well-known photographer. Today, Požerskis is one of the most prominent Lithuanian photographers, representing the Lithuanian school of photography. The author's works are now not only considered classics of Lithuanian photography but are also valued in the international context of creative photography. Furthermore, Požerskis' work is significant not only in art but also in a broader cultural context. Over more than five decades of creative activity, Požerskis has formed a distinct and widely recognizable humanistic worldview and an image of Lithuanian national identity in his photographs.