Grand public  |  Collaboration H – The Notion of Humanist Photography

In 2022, two European cultural institutions, the Centre national de l’audiovisuel (CNA) in Luxembourg and the Kaunas Photography Gallery in Lithuania, joined forces to create a collaborative project that brought together a group of international artists to explore the notion of humanist photography. Twenty-three artists, four authors, three mentors and one designer (Nicolas Polli) were invited to be part of this crossing borders project. The project took the form of two separate residencies held at the Kaunas Photography Gallery and the CNA during May and June 2022. Led by Jim Goldberg in Kaunas, Emma Bowkett and Naoise O’Keeffe in Dudelange, the residencies provided a platform for an exchange of ideas and discussions about the artists’ work: how their work relates to today’s world and how contemporary photographers can still find meaningful and inventive ways to present what it means to be human. These themes were grown and developed from the discussions, with additional involvement from critics and curators, along with access to the collections and cultural networks of the Centre national de l’audiovisuel and the Kaunas Photography Gallery. As a result, the project culminated in the production of a trilingual publication (will be published end of November 2022).

Some of CNA’s most emblematic collections and commitments at Kaunas Photography Gallery are historically linked to humanist photography, a documentary style focusing on ordinary people in everyday situations. It is an approach most famously associated in Europe with such photographers as André Kertész, Robert Doisneau and the Magnum co-founder Henri Cartier-Bresson. The CNA holds the seminal exhibition ‘The Family of Man’, curated by Edward Steichen for the New York Museum of Modern Art in 1955, which is regarded as a manifesto for peace and the fundamental equality of mankind expressed through the humanist photography of the post-war years. In Lithuania, the humanist vision has been central to the way the country has recorded and preserved its sense of national identity, especially during the period of Soviet occupation when the country’s unique character, environment and way of life were threatened with destruction. 

The publication

The publication 'H – The Notion of Humanist Photography' brings together over 23 multifaceted artistic positions and includes four extensive essays as well as numerous texts about the artist’s works. This ensemble creates a multi-faced framework that places the notion of humanist photography at its center and allows to delve deeper into different aspects and perspectives.