LIFE AND WORK:
Arnis Balčus (born 1978) is a Latvian photography and video artist. Born in Riga, Latvia, Balcus lived and worked in his home town before moving to London, United Kingdom, in 2004. He took an MA course on photography at University of Westminster from 2004 to 2005. He is exhibiting his work since 1994, but emerged internationally in 2003 with the photographic series Myself, Friends, Lovers and Others. Using snapshot aesthetic the series were showing the everyday life of contemporary Latvian youth. The series had numerous solo shows, for instance, at Giedre Bartelt gallery, Berlin, Overgaden, Copenhagen, Fotogalerie Wien, Vienna, State Museum of Art, Riga and Matthew Bown Gallery, London.
WORK FOCUS AND IDENTITY:
Since 2008 most of his photographic work has been related to Latvian identity, historical taboos and social-political agendas. In 2009 Arnis Balcus showed his series Amnesia at Riga Art Space. In the photographs he was staging various social rituals that have disappeared from the everyday life in Latvia due to political and economical changes in the past thirty years.The exhibition traveled to Ventspils, Latvia. In the series Latvian Notes he has been exploring the everyday life in Latvia. This research is focused on Latvian society through the perspective of collective rituals and public space. The series Victory Parkgrappled with questions on Otherness – and more specifically, in the context of Latvia’s complex relationship with Russia, and Russian culture.In 2014 the series were shown at Street Level Photoworks in Glasgow and Mūkusala Art Centre in Riga. The latest series Beyond The Blue River are related to the Zilupe region in Eastern Latvia, which on an everyday basis is characterized as economically unstable and politically disloyal to Latvia.
In his video works he addresses issues of identity and gender. His video Xionel features a confession by a beautiful Asian transsexual, while Balcus’ Latvia 1989-91 is a photo story created of artist’s family snapshots from the time Latvia regained its independence from USSR.
WHY I AM INTERESTED IN HIS WORK:
Since moving to Jersey I have had a real identity crisis when it comes to my roots. From one point I have become more English, fully adopting the language, culture and practices of Jersey yet i truly value the home country from where I come which is Latvia. It has suffered a lot of political and economical blows since its liberation in the early 1990s from the USSR, forcing families like my own to move away. I am keen to reminisce on the traditions which I once was so closely linked to, doing this through tableaux vivant and staged reality. A lot of the subjects which Balčuks focuses on are very personal to myself and something which I feel I will be able to recreate well.
From an artistic standpoint, his work has a lot of subtle yet powerful imagery and symbolism. Creating very powerful imagery in the eyes of not only native Latvians but also people from all around the world. The topics which he tackles are relevant and hold a lot of deep meaning.
WORK STRATEGY/PLAN FOR PHOTO-SHOOT:
WHO – for this photo shoot I will be selecting two images from Arnis Balčus’ work in order to recreate for my staged reality photo-shoot.
WHAT – the main objective of this photo shoot is to recreate and understand how Balčus creates his work and the symbolism which he chooses to include.
WHEN – the images will be taken in specific environments according to the images i am recreating.
WHERE -the photos will be take in Latvia in order to have authentic images which are as close as possible to the original.
WHY – to understand the most suitable ways in which to photograph people, organize photo-shoots and comprehend the symbolism which has been used by the original artist
HOW – I used my regular DSLR camera for this photo shoot, using a combination of artificial and natural lighting.
