📸 Romualdas Rakauskas (1941-2021) was a Lithuanian photographer

 📸 Romualdas Rakauskas (1941-2021) was a Lithuanian photographer.

His photographs create a poetic narrative of his native land and its people, sensitive and poignant, full of love and tenderness. His works are exhibited at the Lithuanian National Museum of Art, the French National Library in Paris, the International Center of Photography in New York, the Aušra Museum in Šiauliai, and elsewhere.

His kind, optimistic works let us know that not all is lost in this world and that there is more good, bright, and kindness around us than there is gloom and doom. The artist invests his whole self, his love, and his kindness in each photograph. The titles of his series speak for themselves: "Blooming," "Happy," and "Land of Inspiration."

Romualdas Rakauskas's first solo photography exhibition was called "Tenderness." The master photographer dedicated it to warm human connection.

"After graduating from university, I moved from Vilnius to Kaunas, where the literary youth magazine "Nemunas" had just opened."

Then Rakauskas began actively working on his photo series: "Everyday Life in Vilnius" (1960-1965), "Tenderness" (1962-1971), and "Blossoming" (1974-1984).

To capture the photographs, the photographer had to travel all over Lithuania in search of the right subjects. Along the way, he encountered people who had lost their loved ones. This struck a chord with Romualdas, who himself had lost his father and nearly lost his mother.

After the "Tenderness" exhibition, at the age of thirty-three, Romualdas decided to begin a new series, "Blossoming," which would later become the most striking and memorable in his work. The title work of the series, according to the author himself, is a photograph of a boy walking along a road strewn with petals, holding a rabbit in his arms.

"My favorite photograph is of a boy walking down the road carrying a rabbit. I photographed this boy and his brother. And finally, I captured the moment when he so wonderfully warmly bowed his head toward this white rabbit. People don't believe I staged it all. But that's how staged photography should be done, to make it look natural. You have to be able to do it," the photographer shares.

Working on the series was initially spontaneous: an idea emerged, then the first test shots, and then it all started. For ten whole years (!), the photographer waited for each new spring to capture his vision. During all the other seasons, he pondered the subjects, scenarios, and images he wanted to capture in blooming gardens. The photographer traveled through villages in search of interesting shots.

And as the process progressed, it turned out that not all ideas went according to plan.

For example, it rained frequently, and all the flowers fell. As a result, the shoot was postponed until the following year. Yes And the bloom itself doesn't last long: just a week, two at most. I had to improvise on the spot to ensure the shot was natural and relaxed. "To get the single shot I needed, I could shoot six rolls of film at a time. The villagers always helped me very sincerely."

After working on this series, Romualdas Rakauskas admits that the theme had run its course and had to be abandoned. He jokes that he couldn't see blooming gardens for another five years.

"We are a black-and-white people. Black-and-white blood runs through our veins. In our time, when photographing artists, I wanted to use color photography so that their painted works could be seen. But I decided against it. I will only shoot black-and-white photography. It's much stronger and more expressive.

Especially since color is everywhere now—in life, on television, in films," explains Romualdas Rakauskas.