Antanas Sutkus, Romualdas Rakauskas - Vilniaus Siokiadieniai ("Vilnius on Weekdays") - 1965

FANTASTIC VERY FIRST BOOK by Lithuanian photographer Antanas Sutkus, the "Henri Cartier-Bresson of the east", which he did together with the also well-known and great Lithuanian photographer Romualdas Rakauskas.

Lukasz Gorczyca, Adam Mazur, Photobloc, Central Europe in Photobooks, page 222-225.

122 (!) impressive black and white photos by Antanas Sutkus, 136 impressive black and white photos by Romualdas Rakauskas - an EARLY LITHUANIAN MASTERPIECE IN THE HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY AND PHOTOBOOKS.

A look at daily life in Vilnius.
A fascinating snapshot of the times, as it looks at people and places.

PRINTED IN BREATH-TAKING PHOTOGRAVURE.

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"Vilniaus siokiadieniar' is like a manifesto of the Lithuanian School of Photography, presenting itself in book format for the frst time. Antanas Sutkus (born 1939) met like-minded photography enthusiast Romualdas Rakauskas (born 1941) and suggested that they publish a book about Vilnius together. They had an example to gain inspiration from, a book about Prague. They had both studied journalism at the Vilnius Vincas Kapsukas University (now Vilnius University) and had likewise worked as photo correspond-ents: Sutkus for the magazine Tarybine moteris (Soviet Woman) and Rakauskas for the weekly newspaper Literatura ir menas (Literature and Art). They were both originally from villages and to them, Vilnius was a grand city, where old and new architecture formed an exciting stage for people's everyday lives, recently freed by the political 'Thaw'. The two young photographers attempted to recreate that atmosphere in a book. They used photojournalism, the only ideologically acceptable method, but 'humanised' it by focusing on people's emotional states and conditions."
(Lukasz Gorczyca, Adam Mazur in "Photobloc, Central Europe in Photobooks")

Mintis Publishers, Vilnius. 1965. First edition, first printing.

Hardcover in linen. 232 x 265 mm. 211 pages. 258 photos. Photos: Antanas Sutkus, Romualdas Rakauskas. Text: Romualdas Rakauskas. Graphic design: Rimtautas Gibavicius. Text in Lithuanian, Cyrillic, Polish, English, German, Spanish.

Condition:
Inside fresh with no foxing; longer private dedication on first title page, no other marks or remarkable flaws or defects. Outside used; a bit yellowed at the covers, stronger yellowed at the spine, at the top of the spine lightly teared. Lacks dustjacket and booklet. Overall very good condition.

Very scarce, very beautiful Lithuanian photobook title - extremely hard to find in any condition.

"Their mutual friend Rimtautas Gibavicius agreed to design the book and also showed them some places where Vilnius could be revealed from more interesting angles. Rakauskas, who had literary ambitions, wrote the text. He also offered several colour insets for the black-and-white publication. They decided to put only numbers next to the photographs, so as to leave the visual flow undisturbed by captions. The numbers could be matched with those on the last page of the book, thus helping to identify the relevant photographer. Additionally, a separate six-page leaflet was included, which featured the book's title translated into Russian, Polish, English, German and Spanish, as well as short commentaries on the photographs, sometimes with quotations, presented in the same order as in the book.
The format of the book is almost square. The hardback linen cover is decorated with a printed black floral ornament, characteristic of wrought iron gates and balcony railings in Vilnius. The ornament, albeit in a more sophisticated incarna-tion, is repeated in the first photograph: a closed metal gate to a park. Four intro-ductorv spreads follow, with a short text on the left and a photograph on the right: the cathedral with a new district in the background, a street in the Old Town covered with snow, a new block of flats in summer and the Gediminas Castle tower at night. Hence, the theme is clear: history and modernity are juxtaposed, which is expressed further by comparing the old and the new in almost every spread, thus evoking the dynamic breakthrough of the Soviet present. This might have been a tribute to ideology, but urban moderni-sation was viewed positively in the 1960s.
Lyrical texts suggest reading Vilnius like a book: 'square after square, street after street'. The sequence of photographs does not form a continuous narrative, but offers a frame to the bustling present made of countless segments. The layout creates the image of a living city, in terms of space and time. Modernist aesthetics are suitable for the task, for they emphasise movement: the photographs are presented either on a white or black background; sometimes they cannot 'fit onto the page, and crowd a spread like ice floes in early spring. Vantage points continuously alternate: the city is shown from above, then the camera plunges down to street level. Thus the book format contains Vilnius's multifaceted urban architecture and a diversity of social spaces, featuring people of all ages and professions. The whole narrative follows the rhythms of the day and the seasons.
Blatant contrasts and subtle transitions from one subject to another flow in front of the reader's eyes like a film. The photographers also try to embrace the dense fabric of the city in individual shots: reflections in windows allow them to lay view upon view and see the space from several vantage points at once. The book ends with a scene on a trolleybus: a girl has fallen asleep on her mother's lap, filled with impressions after a long journey around the city. Although every word and image were checked and needed approval at the time, the resulting book suggests that its contributors enjoyed freedom of expression.They withstood the dictates of Socialist Realism and inscribed Lithuanian photography into the context of international humanist photography, presenting Vilnius as a modern Eastern European city."
(Lukasz Gorczyca, Adam Mazur in "Photobloc, Central Europe in Photobooks")

"Born in 1939 Antanas Sutkus is a renowned Lithuanian photographer and recipient of the Lithuanian National Prize and Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas. He was one of the co-founders and a President of the Photography Art Society of Lithuania (Lithuanian: Lietuvos fotografijos meno draugija). Sutkus`s series People of Lithuania is considered one of his most important works. It is a continuing project begun in 1976 to document the changing life and people of Lithuania. Working at the time when Lithuania (as the Lithuanian SSR) was part of the Soviet Union, Sutkus focused on black and white portraits of ordinary people in their everyday life rather than the model citizens and workers promoted by Soviet propaganda. Sutkus had an opportunity to spend time with Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir in 1965 when they visited Lithuania. One image, taken against the white sand of Nida, is highly regarded as capturing Sartre`s ideas. "Sutkus`s series People of Lithuania is considered one of his most important works. It is a continuing project begun in 1976 to document the changing life and people of Lithuania. Working at the time when Lithuania (as the Lithuanian SSR) was part of the Soviet Union, Sutkus focused on black and white portraits of ordinary people in their everyday life rather than the model citizens and workers promoted by Soviet propaganda. Sutkus had an opportunity to spend time with Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir in 1965 when they visited Lithuania. One image, taken against the white sand of Nida, is highly regarded as capturing Sartre`s ideas." "Sutkus is a people, not a things photographer, even though there are always plenty of "things" that reveal the rough order of life. He is very interested in what we often call a "daily struggle" - how do those, whom he meets on the way, live. Sutkus never hid behind the camera and the subjects he photographs often look right into the lens. When this happens we become like a sort of witnesses of silent interrogation. And it is paradoxical - we too are interrogated. Sutkus has a rare gift, which only a few other photographers have: he is able to smoothly and naturally blend with environment. Children, young or old people, fellow artists, politicians, city, country. Often people look like they are waiting for something, or maybe just stopped for a second. It seems that they have stopped because of him, as if to share the moment of openness with this perfect, compassionate stranger."
(William A. Ewing)

"A Classicist in the great tradition of 20th-century street photography, Antanas Sutkus is widely regarded as Lithuania`s greatest photographer, her Cartier-Bresson. His focus on children will also remind viewers of Helen Levitt, the crucial difference being one of place. Levitt captures New York City`s grit and melancholy whereas Sutkus depicts Lithuania`s rural, small-town charm, innocence, and natural beauty. Starting with the lovely cover portrait, every photograph in the collection is about a child or has a child in it. Of course, the camera loves children. Still, Sutkus` photographs of children are not sentimental. They are, instead, genuinely affecting, and will leave one moved upon first encountering them. Through them, Sutkus captures everyday life in his beloved Lithuania with clarity of vision and profound empathy." (Modernrare)