About the photo exhibition dedicated to jazz by Aleksandar Plačkov in the Serbian National Theatre
PHOTOGRAPHY AND MUSIC – SISTERS FROM THE MULTI-MEDIA FAMILY
The photo camera in the role of an irreplaceable mediator between the music performer and the audience.
If we were to pass a judgement on the exhibition of Novi Sad-based photographer Aleksandar Plačkov, organised in the Nova Gallery of the Serbian National Theatre for the 17th Novi Sad Jazz Festival, it would read: a photo exhibition worthy of a round of applause on the stage.
Those who are well-acquainted with the art of photography in Novi Sad were not surprised by this thematic exhibition dedicated to the figures of the jazz scene. It came as a reaffirmation of the remarkable commitment of Aleksandar Plačkov, an inspired author of colour photography, which was one in a series of the countless, original, logistic contributions to the Novi Sad Jazz Festival. He took photos and committed to memory all the previous 16 Festival editions, produced an invaluable photo documentation, which constitutes a unique heritage in the treasury of Novi Sad’s musical creativity. It is this heritage that the images for the thematic exhibition about music and photography, two sisters from the family of the multi-media cultural creativity, were selected from.
In his previous shows, Aleksandar Plačkov exhibited classical portraits of international music greats such as Benny Golson, John Griffin, Ron Carter, Toots Thielemans , Dusko Goykovich, and many others, which were greatly appreciated by the Novi Sad audiences, thus attracting the attention of the lovers of this distinctive form of art, and made his contribution to the affirmation of Novi Sad as a city of culture. However, from the magnitude of his photographs, created in a split second, in the moments of delirium on the stage, he chooses the pictures that are in harmony with music. This spawned a collection of photos that are looked at, and visually listened to in the silence surrounding them. Gestures, movements, facial expressions, even light effects, create an atmosphere that the exhibition visitors recognise, spontaneously catching the rhythm, tapping it with their hands or feet, singing the latent, virtual songs that they recall from the time of their original interpretation on the stage.
We still remember the powerful, black and white photos of jazz artists exhibited several decades ago by Laslo Dorman, a journalist and press photographer of ‘Madjarso’, whose fame reached outside the borders of our country. His fellow photographer and heir Aleksandar Plačkov continues the photographic tale about music, masterfully using not only colour technique, but the advantages of the digital technology, which offers limitless creative and intervention possibilities. His camera has built a delicate bridge between emotions of musical virtuosos and audience, becoming a successful mediator, a transmitter between the image and the sound, creating photographs that emanate music.
Borivoj Mirosavljević,
Master of Yugoslav Photography
Aleksandar Plačkov
In his early career Aleksandar worked as a press photographer for dailies and magazines, and was the chief editor of photography for the magazine ‘Oldtajmer’. He also worked as an official photographer of the company ‘Cineoptik’ and the Novi Sad City Museum, as well as the ‘Jazzik’ jazz festival in Subotica. For many years, he has been a photographer and collaborator of the ‘Nishville’ Jazz Festival in Niš and the Cultural Centre of Novi Sad, and the official photographer of the Novi Sad Jazz Festival. He has authored several photo monographs of Novi Sad published by ‘Prometej,’ as well as the entire photo material for the book about the architectural heritage of Novi Sad ‘Novi Sad, od kuće do kuće’(Novi Sad, from House to House) of the Institute for Protection of Cultural Monuments. He is committed to ecology, environment and healthy urban life, living in his hometown of Novi Sad.
Selected exhibitions:
1987 ‘Sav taj jazz’ (All That Jazz) – Beograd, ‘Sava Centar’; 1999 ‘Svetski jazz velikani – dokumenti’ (The World Jazz Greats – Documents) – Novi Sad, Gallery of the Cultural Centre of Novi Sad; 2002 ‘Ajnfort kapije Novog Sada i Petrovaradina’ (Carriage Gateways of Novi Sad and Petrovaradin) – Novi Sad , Gallery SPCNS; 2004 ‘Jazz Portreti’ (Jazz Portraits) – Novi Sad, Serbian National Theatre ; 2008 ‘Novi Sad, moj rodni grad’ (Novi Sad, My Hometown) – Novi Sad, Gallery Prometej; 2010 ‘Novi Sad, grad kakvog više nema’(Novi Sad, The City As It Used To Be) – Novi Sad, Novi Sad City Museum ; 2012 ‘Beogradski jazz festival, nekad i sad’ (The Belgrade Jazz Festival, Then and Now) – Belgrade, ‘Dom Omladine’; 2012 ‘All That Jazz’– Niš , Gallery Art 55
Phone: +381 60 13 51 998; Atelier 3, Petrovaradin Fortress, Novi Sad
All the photographs have been taken with a NIKON film and electro-digital camera with NIKKOR lenses.