With Stalin’s death and the condemnation of his cult of personality by the Twentieth Communist Party Congress, changes promising some degree of liberalization began to be felt in every aspect of life. Some of Stalin’s victims were officially rehabilitated, the privileges enjoyed by the Party and government elite were reigned in, and a certain amount of economic and cultural engagement with the West began. To be sure, however, the image of a more liberally minded, progressive Soviet Union ambitiously facing the future was created for no other reason than to strengthen the post-totalitarian system. The Soviet Union continued to inculcate its ideology in the occupied countries, only now it began an all-out competition with the West, particularly with the United States. Essentially this was done in the same manner in which the Stalinist regime had been established and maintained: through the use of mass propaganda, especially with the help of photography. But even this small level of political “opening” was enough of an impetus for photography to become increasingly prevalent as an independent artistic genre.

 

Amateur photographers’ clubs and enthusiast circles were already being established on a large scale during the Stalinist period. The regime’s support for such clubs was deliberate, as the shortage of professional photographers was becoming increasingly evident. There was, after all, no school for the training of professional photographers. The first amateur photography classes were started in 1947 at the Republican Teachers’ Hall in Kaunas. Students in the course were given the same task demanded of every other person working in the cultural and journalistic professions: to record the great events and changes occurring in the country. A Photographic Art Studio was opened that same year at the Kaunas Physical Education Club, and its members created albums of their photography. The press, particularly active in encouraging amateurs to send their images to editorial offices, also became enlisted in the mentoring of novice photographers. The magazine Jaunimo gretos (Ranks of the Young) started a column called “Fotomegėjas” (Amateur Photographer) featuring the best “eligible” images taken by amateurs.

 

The real excitement brewing in the world of photography during the “thaw” period soon spread to every corner of Lithuania. Active photography clubs were founded in most cities and towns. Within this novice environment, lacking in any real photographic tradition and still largely bound by the standards and views about the work of a photographer established during the Stalinist regime (“A Soviet journalist is a truthful chronicler of [our] great era, a sentry of the future”), the first artistic photographers able to lift photographic art to universal recognition began to emerge. These included Antanas Sutkus, Romualdas Rakauskas, Aleksandras Macijauskas, Vitalijus Butyrinas, Algimantas Kunčius, Marius Baranauskas, Vaclovas Straukas, and others. Their works of humanistic images are today considered iconic examples of Lithuanian photography without which the development of the genre could hardly be conceivable.

 

In 1958, a Photography Division was established as part of the Lithuanian SSR Journalists’ Union to coordinate the work of amateur photographers and organize all photojournalists throughout Lithuania. It was a fairly influential organization that was finally able to revive the debate about photography as an artistic genre. Photographers were visited by representatives of Moscow’s Sovetskoye foto, the ideological leader of Soviet photography, and organized debates with their guests about the purposes, artistic criteria, and other aspects of their craft. The newly emerging Lithuanian photographers looked to the Russian field of artistic photography and began to follow their leaders: Max Alpert, Nikolai Andreyev, Sergei Ivanov-Alyuyev, Moisei Nappelbaum, Nikolai Svishchev-Paola, Dmitri Baltermants, and others. New opportunities arose in the post-Stalinist period to acquire photography books published in the West, which were then shared among colleagues. Lithuanian photographer Kunčius remembers expanding his horizons with colleagues by reading the Czech magazine Foto Reviu and Polish journals, and, somewhat later, articles by Susan Sontag, Roland Barthes, and Walter Benjamin. The photographers also “shared” an amateurish, handwritten translation into Lithuanian of Sontag’s book On Photography. Their efforts to understand photography’s context were also bolstered by the first international exhibitions, such as Interpress-Foto, during which the young photographers could see the prevailing stylistic styles and fashions firsthand. To be sure, artistic pursuits were still hampered by ideological demands, but these limitations continued to ease gradually.

 

One of the first schools dedicated to the improvement of photojournalistic skills was established in Moscow in 1960, and Fišeris graduated from the school with honors. The Photography Division of the USSR Journalists’ Union began to organize creative seminars. A seminar was held in Vilnius in 1961, for example, to share theoretical knowledge and to analyze that year’s most important photography event: an exhibition titled Septynmetis gyvenime (A Seven-Year-Old in Life). The most influential photographer’s club in Lithuania was founded in 1963, including such members as photographic technology ace Povilas Karpavičius, Vilius Jasinevičius, Aleksandras Macijauskas, Vitalijus Butyrinas, Vincas Dineika, Irena Giedraitienė, Algirdas Pilvelis, and others. The first exhibition of artistic photography, organized by the Photography Division in 1962, was finally welcomed by the Vilnius Museum of Art. The exhibition received accolades from artists Stasys Krasauskas and Augustinas Savickas. Photography began to gradually access ever more interesting domains.

 

An exhibition was held in 1965 at the castle in Trakai to commemorate 25 years of Soviet rule in Lithuania. At the time, there were no bridges to the castle, isolated on an island, so all of the photographs for the show had to be carried over on a small boat. The entire future exhibition was nearly lost in the middle of the lake when a strong wind began to toss the boat carrying the photographs. Another memorable event was the so-called “four photographers’” exhibit (by Algimantas Kunčius, Vilius Naujikas, Romualdas Rakauskas, and Antanas Sutkus) held in 1968 at the Vilnius Art Museum. The show sparked a discussion about the need to establish an organization for art photographers and to train specialists in the field. In the press, all art critics were unanimous in their assertion that “true art begins when individuality emerges.” A new outlook on the publication of albums also took hold. 1965 saw the release of Vilniaus šokiadieniai (Everyday Vilnius), a collection of works by the young duo Sutkus and Rakauskas, showcasing a portrayal of life in the capital steeped in the poetic and psychological approach characteristic of both artists. The first photography studios opened, hosting exhibitions in Klaipėda and Plungė. It was becoming ever more clear that photography was not just the “taking of pictures” to illustrate ideologically relevant themes. Thanks to the efforts of talented individuals and, to be sure, the emerging “favorable political wind”, art photography gradually began to awaken from a lethargic slumber.

 

The idea to establish one organization to unite Lithuanian photographers had been tossed about for some time. There were even opposing camps of photographers. Birutė Orentaitė (with artist and photographer Rimantas Dichavičius) sought government support to “affiliate” photographers with official labor unions. Sutkus was particularly opposed to this idea and, with the united support of the Kaunas photography club and Vilnius photographers, he began to search for ways to establish a selfstanding organization. An ideological clash ensued between the two camps and attempts were made to lure away members of the opposing side to strengthen either position. In exchange for joining her side, Orentaitė promised to provide photographers with rolls of photographic paper, for example. Sutkus, meanwhile, organized his members with a gift for writing to publish as much information in the press about photography as possible.

 

After the favorable recognition they received for the 9 Lithuanian Photographers exhibition, the artists felt sufficiently ready to implement their goals—namely, the founding of an association to unite photography lovers across Lithuania. Then Cultural Minister Lionginas Šepetys expressed faith in their creative talents: “Artistic photography has became an important cultural phenomenon, worthy of serious state support.” „Fotografijos menas“, Kultūros barai, 1969, Nr. 1, p. 7. Sutkus and his supporters had already obtained both the favor of the Minister as well as his advice, since they were essentially “neighbors”: the editorial offices of Kultūros barai (which employed several actively engaged photographers) were located in the same building as the Ministry of Culture, which had been temporarily relocated to a three-story building in the Youth (now Bernardinai) Garden.

 

The Lithuanian Photography Society (the predecessor to the Lithuanian Union of Art Photographers) was finally established in 1969. The Society’s charter professed absolute loyalty to Soviet rule: the development of art photography on a foundation of Marxist-Leninist esthetics; the unity of its members in a spirit of loyalty to the Party and Motherland; the advancement of the ideals of Soviet patriotism, friendship among nations, and peace; the development of photography in the Lithuanian republic, throughout the country, and abroad; and the cultivation of the ideas as well as artistic and professional skills of the society’s members.

 

The Society sought to be a loyal and useful servant to two gods at once: the art of photography and the Soviet government. This required extraordinary effort and the ability to find agreement and favor with high-ranking government officials so that the Society could expand its activities and its members could successfully maneuver in their development of modern forms of expression. The Society was surprisingly successful in these efforts due to the many years of leadership of Antanas Sutkus and his managerial talents, strategic thinking, and artistic talent. Under this leadership, the Society actively supported exhibitions, seminars, and competitions, published books, took care of routine matters such as the provision of photographic supplies, and considerably expanded its own staff as it simultaneously established new chapters in Kaunas and Panevėžys. At the same time, the Society also provided visual propaganda work for the state, fulfilling commissions for the production of commemorative plaques and performing the role of censor. Because the organization adhered to strict internal rules of governance, a commission of photographers was permitted to designate which works were appropriate for public display and which were not. As a result, the official agency responsible for censorship, Glavlit, was left with very little to suppress.

 

Preventive pressure “from above” continued for some time after the Society’s founding. In 1980, for example, the head of the Cultural Division of the Lithuanian Communist Party’s Central Committee, Sigmundas Šimkus, in his remarks to the Lithuanian Photography Association's Second Congress, remarked:

 

 

Having taken upon itself the responsibility of mentoring the work of all art photographers in Lithuania and for ensuring the quality and ideological “correctness” of their work, the Society’s executive board was very demanding of itself and others. Vigorous self-censorship was practiced. In one example, sensing strong criticism from readers of Sovetskoye Foto over a photograph it published called Pionierius (Pioneer, the Soviet version of the Boy Scouts), and for which it received accolades in competitions and exhibitions, Sutkus refrained from publicly showing another powerful photograph depicting a blind young pioneer. According to Sutkus, the joke going around the Communist Party Central Committee was that only one anonymous complaint about a photograph had been received in the ten years since the Society was founded, while theatre professionals received plenty every month.

 

The core of the Society, aside from Sutkus himself, consisted of Rakauskas, Kunčius, and Macijauskas, who were later joined by Romualdas Požerskis and others. The photographers helped promote each other’s work as well as that of their colleagues. The “canon” of Lithuanian photography they developed together has remained influential to this day. To be sure, some talented art photographers seemed to disappear from history for a time for personal or other reasons and are only now returning to it. For example, Society member Vitas Luckus was censured for “unethical behavior unbecoming a member of the Lithuanian Photography Association, and for promoting and distributing his photographs while ignoring [the instructions] of the Society’s ruling bodies.” Margarita Matulytė, Nihil obstat: Lietuvos fotografija sovietmečiu, Vilnius: Vilniaus dailės akademijos leidykla, 2011, p. 77. Požerskis used to joke that “Antanas Sutkus ruled over Lithuanian photography like King Mindaugas: if you were a friend, you’d receive everything; if you were an enemy, he would destroy you.” „Keturi fotografijos muškietininkai“, www.iq.lt. On the other hand, Sutkus’ own authority and skills helped keep the Society united and developing successfully, at one point embracing up to 700 art photographers. The activities of the Lithuanian Photography Society soon sparked a Soviet Union-wide debate on photography as art and the creative photographic process. The work of Lithuanian photographers was closely followed by colleagues from other Soviet republics and was often held up as the genre’s standard.