Portrait Photographs of Janez Korošin

Janez Korošin is a distinct figural photographer, creating his most prominent works in portraiture and genre. These portraits were largely created in the 1970s; decades later, we note a certain decrease in production, though we do find some appearing again after 2000. Prints are largely copied a bit harder as it was common for the members of Photo-group ŠOLT in the 1970s, a minor part, mainly from the beginning of seventies, is of significant »grainy« structure as well.

The shots were taken in Ljubljana and vicinity, as well as in the Gorenjska region. Korošin photographed both known and unknown people, as well as some celebrities, together with his closest relatives as well. Otherwise, he was mainly interested in coincidental encounters. People are seen standing alone in small groups, or pictured in their living or working environments, sometimes on the street or at public happenings, sometimes in pairs or in groups, in the city or in rural surroundings. Ultimately there is no single unified approach. His photography relies heavily on instinct, according to various patterns and various influences, that cannot be defined exactly now. Korošin’s most important role models were Slovenian photographers Stojan Kerbler, Milenko Pegan, and Joco Žnidaršič.

Nor is Korošin’s attitude toward those he photographed particularly unified. Sometimes he enjoys a close relationship with them, with the spectator gaining insight in their psyche, often as deep as any photography goes. The photographer often portrays adults in serious moods, without using any particular poses, while in contrast ­­some are caricatures, whereas children are often caught in a contagious smile. Scenes wherein an individual might be in distress or found in a particularly dramatic or dynamic situation are relatively rare, while some border on genre images.

On the other hand the photographer was often interested in capturing people in their environments, where psychological insight is not of primary interest or importance. There is the space that surrounds them, which is stressed and perhaps their gestures as well. We find four times as many reportage and in-situ ambient portraits than photographs of people posed. Korošin’s portraits then are largely the result of a certain photo-hunt for visually suggestive scenes. As a result, he usually used a telephoto lens, which enabled him to maintain a physical as well as a psychic or psychological distance from the person pictured. In this sense some portraits belong to the sphere of so-called street photography. Though there are no blurred shots, which sometimes happened when the figures were moving, here and there the crowd and the action as part of the surrounding environment take precedence over the individual.

Korošin was also interested in the interactions between people, which sometimes were comical, sometimes only unusual, but almost always dynamic. Here he used, to great effect, the approach that photography brought to the visual sphere – the possibility of capturing a momentary situation.

As the greatest part of Korošin’s portraits were made in the 1970s, we cannot avoid or deny their role as spontaneous social-critical documentary testimony. Even in Slovenia, this was the time of the beginning of the end of the socialist system, the end of an unsustainable social-economic system.

Photographic portraits are images over which the iconoclasm of modernism has no power. Precisely captured figures tend to exert an influence over the spectator long after they were shot and evoke the illusion of a sense of empathy with the person represented. As a result of this primal kind of influence they have a very central position in the larger body of Korošin’s work.

Primož Lampič, Ljubljana, February 2024

Janez Korošin (*Ljubljana 1935), chemical technician, began photographing in 1952 in Ravne, in Koroška. After moving back to Ljubljana, he joined the Photo Club of Ljubljana and later its post-merger successor, the Photo Group of Ljubljana – ŠOLT and became one of its most active members in the 1970s. Korošin took part in amateur group exhibitions from 1969 to cca. 2010 and organized solo exhibitions of his work from 1973 onwards. He most liked to work in portrait, genre, and landscape. His realistic approach constitutes the basis of his creative work, and yet here and there we find photographs that go well beyond storytelling and tread, indeed trespass into the territory of modernist sensibilities.

List of exhibited works:

1. Press II, Ljubljana, 1970
2. Just a Moment…, Ljubljana, Rožnik, 1971
3. The Heat, Ljubljana, 1973
4. Extras, Struga near Ohrid, 1974 (ok. 2010)
5. Lillies of the Valley, Ljubljana, 1974
6. Aunt Franca, Ljubljana, 1974
7. Duet 70, Ribčev Laz, 1978
8. Marko Korošin, Ljubljana, 1978
9. Portrait from the Street / Expectation / Ms Piry, 1978
10. Pilgrimage (1), Ljubljana-Rakovnik, 1977
11. Passing-by, Ljubljana, 1980
12. Tired Woman No. 2 , Ljubljana, 1981
13. Step by Step / Marjan Smerke, Kropa, ok. / ca. 1990
14. Granny’s Glance / Pavla Presterel, Ljubljana, 1995
15. Hands / Irena Črnilogar (95 Years), Ljubljana, July 2002
16. Miro Zdovc, Ljubljana, 2008
17. Suburb, Ljubljana, 1970, photomontage-double exposure

Colophon

Curator: Primož Lampič

Selection of Photographs: Primož Lampič, Primož Pislak

Exhibition and Graphic Design: Primož Pislak, Ljubljana

Project Manager: Nikola Pongrac

Proofreading: Jeff Bickert, Katja Paladin

Public Relations: Smilja Štravs

Technical Realisation: Matjaž Rozina, Tadej Golob

The exhibition was organised on the occasion of the publication of the book Janez Korošin: Ljudje in krajine. Črnobele fotografije 1960–2020, co-published by the Museum of Architecture and Design and Photon Gallery.