On April 23 at 5:30 p.m., the photography exhibition “Kaunas in Photographs 3 (Classmates’ Exhibition)” will open at the Kaunas Photography Gallery (Vilniaus St. 2, Kaunas). This is the third project in the series, this time presenting the perspectives on the city of two peers and former classmates – architect Paulius Tautvydas Laurinaitis and photographer Arvydas Čiukšys.
Paulius Tautvydas Laurinaitis photographs the city as a documentarian – he is drawn not to representative images, but to the mundane side of the city: places, spaces, and details we rarely give a second thought to, even though we pass them by every day. His frames are sparked by the interplay of eras, volumes, colors, and textures – fragments that tell a story. Night photography holds a special place in his work: through the filter of night, the same familiar Kaunas reveals itself in a completely different way – connections between spaces and light emerge that are simply invisible during the day.
Arvydas Čiukšys photographs from the perspective of a passionate observer; as he walks the streets, he creates a unique chronicle of the city. The process itself is important to him: freezing a moment, the fall of light, dramatic lighting. But just as important is the meaning – to preserve what is changing or disappearing entirely. Especially wooden architecture, which is quietly fading from Kaunas’s landscape, is not only an aesthetic but also a documentary concern for him.
As the exhibition curator Donatas Stankevičius says: “The architecture seems timeless, as if it has weathered many eras. Yet sometimes a single decision is enough to create a void in the urban fabric. Then only images remain.“
The exhibition will run until May 24.
Curator: Donatas Stankevičius
Sponsors: Lithuanian Council for Culture, Kaunas City Municipality
Patron of the Kaunas Photography Gallery: AON
