Motto: Capture a moment, a detail, people, a street, a town. Keep it for some future time and provoke thoughts and memories.
Interests: Collecting historical materials, postcards, postage stamps, badges and antiques, especially photographs.
About me: I was born in Đakovo, in a five-member, working-class family. My love for photography came from my father, who was one of the founders of the Đakovo Photography and Film Club back in 1951. Hundreds of photographs captured all the fun and peculiarities of me and my twin brother’s childhood. From a very early age, we shared our life with our father’s photography equipment. You just could not keep him away from it. He worked with many associations and friends, capturing everything that was going on in the town. Because of that, I started doing film and photography myself in 1968.
I achieved the first notable results with the 1970 film titled “Moje Proljeće”, at the meeting of young Croatian filmmakers. Besides independent works, between 1970 and 1980, I made documentary reports called “Kronika Đakovštine” using a 16-mm camera. In 1976, I participated in the organisation of the folklore film festival called “3F”. In accordance with the theme of the 3F and Đakovo Embroidery Festival, I made films titled “Tikvice čič Ilije” in 1976 and “Medvjedi, ljudi od slame” in 1978. These works must be seen in the context of the time when they were made, taking into account the technology and equipment available at the time.
All these years, I have been a member of the Đakovo Photography and Film Club, doing photography and participating in exhibitions and competitions. In 2010, I got involved in the work of the “Heart of Slavonia” international ethno-film festival as a member of the organising committee.
While serving in the Homeland War from 1990 to 1995, I made an extensive collection of war photographs, which I display on various occasions and give to be featured in various monographs. Photography has made many pleasant encounters and moments in my life possible. Every photograph taken today is an exhibit for some future time. New technology and media make photography more accessible to everybody, but with far less enthusiasm and anticipation.
Follow: Željko Germovšek