The Lithuanian connection
When someone says ‘Lithuania’, what images pop into your mind? For most Australians, not much. Lithuanians on the other hand think of Australia in terms of shark attacks or politicians upset about topless women on beaches.
A new photo book edited by Lithuanian photographer Mindaugas Kavaliauskas bridges the gap, presenting nine photographers from each country under the title Customs ignored.
The book leans towards documentary (images of cars crop up frequently in both countries) but also contains stylised work from Jeff Moorfoot who plays with text, condoms, turtles and hairbrushes.
Glenn Lockitch shows some of his Taxi series, a collection of snaps of passengers he has encountered during his many years pushing the metal through Sydney’s nightlife.
Kavaliauskas himself runs the Kaunos Photo Festival, the only annual art photography festival in the Baltic states. He became interested in Australia upon seeing Max Pam’s Going East while studying photography at Ecole Nationale de la Photographie in Arles. Pam’s Supertourist series appears in the book.
The book will be launched at the Australian Centre for Photography, 257 Oxford St, Paddington on Thursday 24 September, 6pm, with limited editions for sale.
by Michael Gormly
Photo below, included in the book:
Time: 2:35am. From: nightclub on Oxford Street To: Haymarket. “Don’t worry mate I’m full of blood. They fill you with alcohol and then beat you up. I’m [also] covered in my friend’s blood [who was taken off to hospital. What a way to spend your last night in Sydney [he was heading back to the UK].”
