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Intervju sa Nemanjom Podraščićem - Umetnost ulične fotografije kao ogledalo Srbije

Intervju sa Nemanjom Podraščićem - Umetnost ulične fotografije kao ogledalo Srbije

Höfundur Milos OLS Community Manager -
Number of replies: 1

Street photo from city transport from Belgrade
Source: Nemanja Podraščić

Kultura je umetnost-umetnost je kultura, i sve je isprepleteno svakodnevnim životom ljudi koji čine datu kulturu i koji iz nje stvaraju umetnost. Na svim kontinentima je autentična neka umetnost ili umetnički potpis, ali ako se zagledamo dublje, možemo primetiti suptilne razlike i od zemlje do zemlje. Osoba koja možda i najbolje u Srbiji može da vam približi srpsku kulturu je upravo ulični fotograf Nemanja Podraščić, koji svojom umetnoću daje inspiraciju drugim umetnicima, dok u isto vreme i beleži svakodnevni život ljudi na ovim prostorima, kao motiv dokumentovanja kulture koja je trenutno prisutna. 
 
U nastavku se nalazi intervju sa njim, koji će vam sigurno biti zanimljiv iz perspektive kako on posmatra našu kulturu, ali i šta je njemu najinteresantije da zabeleži objektivom:

Street photo of an accordion from the center of Belgrade
Source: Nemanja Podraščić

 

1. Hajde da približimo članovima zajednice ko je Nemanja Podraščić  

Ja sam vizuelni antrololog iz Beograda čiji su glavni vidovi komunikacije fotografija i kratki dokumentarni filmovi. Snimam i slikam ljude u svim mogućim i nemogućim situacijama, želeći da zabeležim kamerom svakodnevni život i kulturu. 

2. Šta je Street fotografija? 

Hvatanje kamerom momenata koji su nam svima poznati i u kojima smo i sami učesnicni ali nemamo svi mogućnost ili želju da ih zabeležimo.

Pictures of people from Belgrade with the same lighting style but different colors.
Source: Nemanja Podraščić

3. Kako si počeo da fotografišeš život ljudi u Srbiji? 

To je došlo spontano, živim na periferiji grada i dosta vremena sam proveo u gradskom prevozu, i takva atmosfera dosta dobro prikazuje svakodnevnicu koja mi je jedna od glavnih tema, a pritom je i fotogenično. Sa dokumentarnom, ili bolje reći life fotografijom sam se upoznao tokom srednje škole kada sam video radove Belgrade Raw, Boogie-ja, Dragoljuba Zamurovića, kada sam i shvatio da fotografija može da beleži i sasvim obične momente koje proživljavaju ljudi oko nas, što ne uključuje nužno nešto estetizovano i ulepšano. 

4. Koliko vremena provodiš na ulici dok fotografišeš? 

S obzirom da za video koristim telefon, kad god sam na ulici mogu da snimim nešto. Gde god se nalaziš postoji mogućnost da uhvatiš neki kadar, tako da je važno biti uvek spreman na to. Međutim, nije svako mesto pogodno za fotkanje i sa telefonom si manje upadljiv. Fotoaparat mnogo više upada u oči i s njim kada sam imam drugačije fotke nego snimke sa telefonom, i sa njim idem ciljano na neka druga mesta. To je otprilike 3-4 sata nedeljno (što je u suštini malo, trebalo bi da bude toliko na dnevnom nivou). 

One shoe on a container.
Source: Nemanja Podraščić

5. Da li misliš da postoji razlika u tvojim fotografijama i ljudi iz drugih zemalja?

Različiti su zakoni što se ulične fotografije tiče, negde je čak i zabranjeno bez odobrenja lica koje je na fotografiji. Kada to nije ograničavajući faktor, fotografije se ne razlikuju toliko, žanr je suštinski isti, svi veliki gradovi imaju sličnu infrastrukturu i demografiju pa se i teme na fotografijama podudaraju. U Švajcarskoj, gde sam ove godine učestvovao na izložbi, ulična fotografija skoro da ne postoji, jer su ljudi oprezni i primete kameru, morate imati njihovu dozvolu da biste ih fotografisali.   

6. Šta je po tebi najautentičnije u našoj kulturi što si video do sada? 

Teško je reći da ima nešto toliko autentično što kod drugih nema, ali mislim da zemlje bivše Jugoslavije, pretežno onih koje nisu članice EU “krasi” sveopšti “haos” koji vlada na ulicama u smislu raznolikosti. Ili bar ja to tako vidim. Neka sirovost svakodnevnog života i kultura “preživljavanja od danas do sutra” a pod tim mislim dokolicu ljudi, koja proizvodi konstantnu tenziju i neizvesnost svih faktora na ulici i čini je originalnom, posebno propraćenu odgovarajućim šarenolikim gradskim okruženjem, saobraćajem i arhitekturom, karakterističnom za ovaj deo sveta. Ako se osvrnemo na ostatak zemlje a ne samo Beograd, tu je veliki broj tema za fotografisanje, od raznih kultura koje dele isto mesto vekovima unazad kao što je u Vojvodini, do skoro napuštenih sela na jugu zemlje koja su sačuvala kuće i predele koji se nikada više neće praviti na isti način niti će tako izgledati.

Wedding in Belgrade
Source: Nemanja Podraščić

7. Zašto je ovakva vrsta umetnosti važna? 

Verujem da fotografija može da pruži drugačiji uvid u stvarnost i da pokrene neka globalna pitanja, kao što to može i film ili muzika, ili bilo koja druga vrsta umetnosti. Ne možete ostati ravnodušni kada npr. Vidite fotografije Gorana Tomaševića. 

Moja vrsta fotografije nije takva, nema za cilj da pošalje neku “otrežnjujuću” ili “drugačiju” poruku, više je “poetski” izraz i pokazuje moju perspektivu stvarnosti, ne samu stvarnosti. 

A house in ruins
Source: Nemanja Podraščić

8. Gde si sve gostovao do sada? 

Imao sam grupnu izložbu u Švajcarskoj ove godine. Tema je bila Beograd i gostovao sam sa još tri srpska fotografa. Do sada nisam izlagao kod nas. 

9. Na šta mladi ljudi koji dolaze u Srbiju mogu da obrate pažnju dok šetaju ulicom, kako bi upoznali našu kulturu? 

Treba da koriste gradski prevoz. Tu će da vide čoveka kako unosi bojler, drugog kako jede lubenicu, trećeg koji mora da zapali cigaretu u na tom mestu, četvrtog kako svira harmoniku. Treba da čitaju natpise po zgradama, ali i, mogu reći nadgrobnim spomenicima. Sve je to sastavni deo svakodnevnog života i umetnosti jedne kulture koju želimo da upoznamo. 

Link ka Nemanjinom instagram profilu ovde. 

 

Milos, OLS menadžer srpske zajednice

In reply to Milos OLS Community Manager

Re: Intervju sa Nemanjom Podraščićem - Umetnost ulične fotografije kao ogledalo Srbije

Höfundur Milos OLS Community Manager -
English version:

Interview with Nemanja Podraščić - The Art of Street Photography as a Reflection of Serbia

Culture is art—art is culture, and everything is intertwined with the daily lives of people who create the culture and, from it, the art. Every continent has its own unique art or artistic signature, but if we look deeper, we can notice subtle differences from country to country. One person who can perhaps best bring Serbian culture closer to you is street photographer Nemanja Podraščić, whose art inspires other artists while simultaneously documenting the daily life of people in this region, capturing the culture that currently exists.

Below is an interview with him, which will surely be interesting from the perspective of how he views our culture and what he finds most intriguing to capture through his lens:

Let’s introduce our community members to Nemanja Podraščić.

I am a visual anthropologist from Belgrade, whose main forms of communication are photography and short documentary films. I film and photograph people in all sorts of possible and impossible situations, aiming to capture everyday life and culture with my camera.

What is street photography?
It’s capturing with a camera moments that are familiar to all of us, in which we all participate, but not everyone has the ability or desire to document them.

How did you start photographing life in Serbia?
It happened spontaneously. I live on the outskirts of the city and spent a lot of time in public transportation, and such an atmosphere captures everyday life quite well, which is one of my main themes, and at the same time, it’s photogenic. I became familiar with documentary or, better said, life photography during high school when I saw the works of Belgrade Raw, Boogie, and Dragoljub Zamurović, which made me realize that photography can capture even the most ordinary moments experienced by people around us, without necessarily being something aestheticized or beautified.

How much time do you spend on the streets while photographing?
Since I use a phone for video, I can record something whenever I’m on the street. Wherever you are, there’s a chance to capture a shot, so it’s important to always be ready for that. However, not every place is suitable for photography, and with a phone, you are less noticeable. A camera is much more conspicuous, and when I’m alone with it, I get different photos compared to videos from my phone, and with it, I go to specific places. That’s about 3-4 hours a week (which is essentially little; it should be that much daily).

Do you think there’s a difference between your photos and those from people in other countries?
The laws regarding street photography differ; in some places, it’s even prohibited without the permission of the person being photographed. When that’s not a limiting factor, the photos don’t differ much—the genre is fundamentally the same. All major cities have similar infrastructure and demographics, so the themes in the photos overlap. In Switzerland, where I participated in an exhibition this year, street photography almost doesn’t exist because people are cautious and notice the camera; you need their permission to photograph them.

What do you think is the most authentic thing in our culture that you’ve seen so far?
It’s hard to say there’s something so authentic that others don’t have, but I think the countries of the former Yugoslavia, especially those that aren’t EU members, are characterized by an overall "chaos" that reigns on the streets in terms of diversity. Or at least that’s how I see it. There’s a certain rawness of everyday life and a culture of "surviving from day to day," by which I mean people’s idleness, which creates constant tension and uncertainty in all aspects on the streets, making it unique, especially when accompanied by the corresponding colorful urban environment, traffic, and architecture characteristic of this part of the world. If we look beyond Belgrade, there are many themes for photography, from the various cultures that have shared the same space for centuries, like in Vojvodina, to nearly abandoned villages in the south of the country, which have preserved houses and landscapes that will never again be built or look the same.

Why is this kind of art important?
I believe that photography can provide a different insight into reality and raise some global questions, just as film, music, or any other form of art can. You can’t remain indifferent when you see, for example, the photographs of Goran Tomašević. My kind of photography isn’t like that; it doesn’t aim to send a "sobering" or "different" message. It’s more of a "poetic" expression, showing my perspective of reality, not reality itself.

Where have you exhibited so far?
I had a group exhibition in Switzerland this year. The theme was Belgrade, and I exhibited with three other Serbian photographers. I haven’t exhibited in Serbia yet.

What should young people visiting Serbia pay attention to while walking the streets to get to know our culture?
They should use public transportation. There, they’ll see a person carrying a water heater, another eating a watermelon, a third one who has to smoke a cigarette right there, and a fourth playing the accordion. They should read the inscriptions on buildings, and I might add, on gravestones. All of this is part of everyday life and the art of a culture we want to get to know.

Link to Nemanja’s Instagram profile here.