Alois Kasimir - A photographer from the turn of the century

Photon Gallery is the producer of the exhibition at the Maribor Photographic Museum, which presents a selection from the photographic opus of the Ptuj-Haloze painter and photographer Alojz Kasimir (1852-1930). The legacy of the Ptuj painting and trade families Kasimir and Oeltjen, kept by the Historical Archives in Ptuj, mostly comprises archival material in the form of photographs, negatives on glass, correspondence, etc. More than 130 negatives on glass and several hundred positives show members of the Kasimir family, their relatives and friends, travels to Italy and German-speaking countries, Haloze, Ptuj and surrounding places, and various events from the 1980s to photographer's death in 1930.

Alojz Kasimir was a skilled bookbinder, but soon devoted himself mainly to fine arts. He had no academic art education, was self-taught, but received numerous painting commissions. He excelled in depicting vedutas, mostly from a bird's eye view, but he also trained in lithography and used this technique to produce illustrations for travel guides, newspapers, flyers and various documents. In doing so, he systematically photographed the places he intended to portray as vedutas; Among the shots of cities, scenes from Ptuj and Graz, Rome, Venice, Gleichenberg, Celje and other Styrian places are especially common. The Haloze, where the Kasimiris regularly visited, attracted the photographer's attention. The photographs show typical manor houses and modest wineries, as well as the procedures of viticulture at the time, and panoramic shots of the varied Haloze landscape, marked by the geometry of the vineyards, open before the viewers. Alojz Kasimir was a founding member of the Club of Amateur Photographers in Graz.

The exhibition is part of a series of events marking the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Slovenia and Austria.

Project partners:
Historical Archive in Ptuj, Museum of National Liberation Maribor, Paul's House Potrna