The portrait of the Romani mother Jitka Pištová with her child is probably the most famous photograph from the collection of Romani portraits by the Slovak photographer Šymon Kliman. The project's original name was Gypsies Made Nice, but later, it began to be presented under its current name, Beautiful People . A selection of portraits was added to the Slovak National Gallery's collections in 2016 as part of a larger purchase of works by contemporary photographers.
Kliman chose the topic of the Roma as a student for his diploma
project at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design (AFAD) in Bratislava;
however, he continued working on his photographs even after graduating.
Being aware of the existing convention of depicting Roma in the history
of Slovak and Czech photography – emphasising their exoticism,
expressiveness and temperament, marginalisation, antisociality and
visible poverty – he wanted to break from these stereotypes and address
the topic in a completely different way.
In an interview, he said: "I have always been annoyed that the way in which Roma are photographed became completely profaned. The same images are repeated over and over again – gypsies with violins, gypsies with horses, gypsies living in misery and dirt. I don't think they are like that, so I tried to show them in a completely different light. In the dirtiest of shacks, I often found beautiful interiors. I asked them to put on their best clothes and I took pictures of them as beautiful people." [1]
And while the main idea of the project was clear, its execution was more demanding. It was initially difficult to reach the Roma in selected settlements in eastern Slovakia. Gradually, he needed to build their trust and interest in cooperation. Association for Culture, Education and Communication, a non-governmental organisation active in the area, local mayors and vajdas assisted him in his endeavours. The first villages in which he photographed were the Romani settlements near Kežmarok – Stráne pod Tatrami, Veľká Lomnica and Podhorany. The task for the portrayed was simple: put on your best clothes, attire yourself and pose in your home. He would then professionally photograph them against the background of their genuine living conditions, their interior decorations and would do so with complete seriousness and respect. Individual personalities of portrayed models were underlined by including their names and brief information about their lives, often difficult ones. He portrayed little boys and girls in their First Communion attire, women in wedding dresses or ball gowns, both young fathers and old husbands in suits. All of them wanted to present themselves in the best light possible, just as dignified and equal to the people of the majority – at least in photography, if not in their daily reality. He deliberately chose people who desired to improve their lives and creating the portrait became an imaginary reward for their efforts. To the first settlements, Kliman later added locations near Poprad and more distant Košice and Moldava nad Bodvou, gradually creating a collection of more than 100 portraits.
After finishing their portraits, Kliman returned to show them to the local Roma, which motivated others to be photographed. This was also the case of Jitka Pištová, a young mother who initially did not want to be portrayed at all. At first, she sent only her daughter to take photos, but later, when she saw pictures of others, she changed her mind and allowed herself to be photographed. Sitting in a pink satin dress, nursing a small naked child in her arms and softly smiling, with light coming from above that emphasises her full features and a decorative floral fabric in the background, she recalls the classic depictions of the Madonna, a traditionally revered symbol of motherhood and love.
In 2008, Šymon Kliman won the AFAD Rector's Award for his Master's project on Roma portraits. A year later, he won the VUB Foundation Award for Young Photographers. In the following years, Kliman repeatedly exhibited this cycle around Europe, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. In 2012, photographs were part of the Month of Photography programme, while the portrait of Jitka Pištová became the title image of the entire festival and the exhibition catalogue. In 2012, he also received the European Citizens' Prize for this project, an award from the European Parliament for outstanding achievements and activities that benefit Europe and lead to a better understanding among its citizens.
In his motivation, Kliman was clear: "I wanted to get their faces on the front pages of magazines and thus help to dispel the various prejudices that the majority society has about them." [2]
You can find the whole cycle Beautiful People here .
Šymon Kliman (1980)
From 2001 to 2008, he studied photography at the Department of Photography and New Media in the studio of Filip Vančo at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava. During his studies in 2003-2004, he completed an internship in the studio of Pavel Štecha at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design (UMPRUM) in Prague. In 2007, he co-founded the group SVK – a trio of young Slovak photographers. He is currently working as a freelance photographer. His other well-known photographic series include Partizáni , Fashion in Action and Slovakia .
The exhibition cycle In the Shop Display enters the public space through the window of Café Berlinka on the ground floor of the Esterházy Palace, presenting works of visual art responding to the issues of contemporary life. In this exhibition format, we have revived collaboration between Peter Bartoš and Július Koller, who exhibited their works in a storefront of a stocking repair shop in Klobučnícka Street in Bratislava under the title Interpretation (Anti-gallery).
[1]
Opoldusová, Jena: Fotografom roka je Šymon Kliman. In: Pravda, 20. 12. 2020. Available on: https://kultura.pravda.sk/galeria/clanok/133332-fotografom-roka-je-symon-kliman/
[2] Redakce: Beautiful People k vidění ve vestibulu ostravské radnice. In: Moravskoslezský deník, 8. 7. 2013. Available on: https://moravskoslezsky.denik.cz/kultura_region/beautiful-people-ve-vestibulu-ostravske-radnice-20130708.html