“The Day Before the Universe: A Photo Exhibition by Žerārs Ķeružis at Roman Garden Art Gallery”

A photo exhibition titled “The Day before the Universe” can be seen in the Berči Hall of the “Roman garden” art gallery. The author of the exhibition is mainly Žerārs Ķeružis, but it will be like that only until the Ligo festival – after that one of the walls of the hall will also be dedicated to the photographs of Sofia Bella Ķeružis, and those who saw “The Day before the Universe” at the time of its opening will again have a reason to visit the exhibition.

“Sofia has photos, but she said: “Dad, put yours, my time will come too.” Sofia Bella also confirms this at the opening of the exhibition, saying that the father deserves this exhibition.

True, there is also one portrait of the father photographed by Sofia Bella in the current exhibition. On the other hand, in some of the father’s photos, the daughter was a model. Sofia Bell is also the author of the photo on the exhibition poster entitled “The Day before the Universe”. The interest in photography, by the way, as in medicine, the first-year student inherited from her father, who says –

in order to get my daughter interested in photography, a certain “friendly invitation” was needed,

and initially Sofia Bella accompanied her father on photo tours as a model.

Žerārs Ķeružis himself also in a way mentions the path walked by his father – Egon Ķeruž, a well-known cinematographer and photographer in Liepāja. Because my father’s camera found in the attic was the impetus to try out the possibilities of analog photography. No one told me, the “desire” to do something like that arose on my own. The first photo was taken not so long ago – fifteen, seventeen years ago.

“I’m not a professional, I’ve never been to an amateur photo group either,” says Žerārs Ķeružis, happy that the exhibition will be a big surprise for his friends and colleagues. “They know that I do it, in my own way, but until now I have not shown the pictures publicly. “They will not be able to connect these two things – me and the photo exhibition”.

The analog photographs, mostly black and white (there are five color photographs in the exhibition), give the impression that they were taken many years ago. However, seeing the people of the Covid-19 era in masks, it is clear that at least some of them were photographed recently. For the most part, the photographer’s lens is focused on people, not the landscape. Whether they were Alekšupīte marathoners in Kuldīga, or an aging rocker in Germany, or a young woman engrossed in her smartphone,

or an old woman on the road in a blizzard, or a man with a shovel in his hands (a worm digger), or “Blīdenes Arija” – they are the center of attention.

The photos have a square format and white borders, with a wider white band at the bottom. “The square and the white border is a polaroid or snapshot format. And if the pictures in this room didn’t have the white border, they would disappear in the brick,” the photographer explains his choice.

There are no annotations for the exhibited works, but hearing the author’s comments about each of the photographs is as interesting as looking at them. Here is the story of the portrait of the father photographed by Sophia Bell:

“This photo was a joke. A joke on the topic of what if there were fences. We were looking for a place where we could catch the outer border without going to Belarus. We got to the Nemunas, which has the Russian Federation on the other side. Why there? Because some Liepaja , while there Rambyno mountainwhich is an ancient mound, had seen him coming on the other side blue, a cargo box full of people going swimming. Like in the old days. We’re going to see Zuzanna the swimmer, maybe we’ll see her! But there was landscaping going on and there was a fence in front. The wind was blowing, and it seemed that taking a photo behind this fence could have the feeling of a person on the run.”

Gérard Ķeruž’s first photograph, by the way, in color, is “a lady who is probably no longer in our world, she was already old back then”. Two or three times a week, summer or winter, the woman measured the way to the store – five kilometers one way, five back. “It was Easter. A nice day, and all of a sudden it’s a lark, everything goes into a whirlwind. I had my camera and I see her coming.

The blizzard is already abating, passing away, and I think – I wish we could meet while there is still a snowflake!

Also, I only have one shot, all these pictures are one shot because there is no time to run the film. It’s a movie – will it or won’t it…”

However, the exhibition also includes several “pairs” of pictures – two photographs taken a few seconds apart. One such couple was caught near Julianna’s yard in Liepāja – first the guys leave the beer bar, then come back. The pictures are all the more interesting because the retro car shown in them was captured with a retro camera – it was produced at the beginning of the thirties of the last century.

There are experimental pictures that were made without repeating the film and shooting one frame on top of the other, or, in the words of the photographer, “shooting one frame twice”. An attentive viewer will also notice pictures taken with old, damaged film, while professionals will notice that different cameras were used, each of which would be worth a separate story. Two of the cameras were inherited from my father.

Another story. “Speaking of these men, they are three big pillars of our society. One is an addict, photographed in Germany – I have never met such a happy bottle man here. The central character – the one who is convinced of his righteousness, the fanatic, the radical, says “This is the city of my ancestors, I belong here!”, photographed in Daugavpils ten years ago. And the third type – with bitch and March 8 tulips – there is one who submits to the flow, and the place is Liepāja’s market.”

Several photos were taken in Venice, which fascinated the photographer. “Venice is the stage! It’s where everything happens! Hollywood…”

There is only one photograph in the exhibition that has a direct connection with the everyday life of the author as a certified surgeon and ultrasonography specialist.

The old woman in the picture has come to the point of trauma for the first time in her life.

But when answering the question of what the title of the exhibition “Day before the universe” means, the photographer is left to talk with “Blīdenes Arija”, a woman whom many motorists have seen sitting and selling on the side of the Liepāja highway. “Are you really going to put me in the newspaper?” asked the woman when Žerārs Ķeružis asked for permission to photograph her. “No.” “In a magazine, then?” “No, straight to the exhibition!” “Then what’s in it for me?” “I guarantee you eternity!” Therefore, the day before eternity. Or the universe.

The idea for the next photo exhibition, which could take place in the Berči hall, is already brewing in the mind of Gerard Ķeruž. In 2027, Liepāja will be the European capital of culture, but two years later – in 2029 – one of the retro cameras with which the photographer works will turn one hundred years old. Žerārs Ķeružis would like to show the people of Liepāja exactly the pictures taken with this camera. Although it is very difficult to find a “doctor” for such a camera, at least buying films is no longer a problem – both the Fujifilm company and its competitors have resumed their production.

It will be possible to view the photo exhibition “The Day before the Universe” in the “Roman Garden” gallery until August 13 during the gallery’s working hours.