EXHIBITIONS

portfolio
 The Juhan Kuus Documentary Photography Centre (JKDPC) was
established to promote the appreciation and development of
documentary photography in Estonia as well as to present Estonian
documentary photos to the international audience.

Our mission is to bring together photographers and people interested

in the documentary photography, all those using this medium to tell
and experience stories that inspire, enrich, include and change lives.

We focus on topics that have a strong impact on societies and

advance the domain of documentary photography. We believe that a
good documentary photo can open people’s eyes to different issues in

The
society as well as facilitate understanding, increase empathy,
encourage cooperation, bridge the gap between differences and
motivate people to face the challenges.

Storyteller
of Life
JUHAN KUUS The Measure of Humanity
45 Years of Documentary Photography in South Africa
The Measure of Humanity is a
retrospective photo exhibition by a
man of Estonian origin – the interna-
tionally recognized South African
documentary photographer Juhan
Kuus.
The exhibition gives a lucid overview
of Juhan Kuus’ photographic career,
with a special focus on his work from
1986 through to 1999. During this
period Juhan Kuus worked as a
correspondent in South Africa for a
legendary French photo agency Sipa
Press. This period features his best
work about the apartheid regime,
the fight against the regime and the
release of Nelson Mandela, follow-
ing his way to become the president
of South Africa.
Exhibition details: The full exhibi-
tion consists of 146 pigment-ink
prints in black wooden frames with
museum glass. The size of pictures:
39 x 32 cm, 46 x 37 cm, 45 x 60 cm, 59
x 46 cm, 77 x 58 cm to 58 x 78 cm.
Special digital slideshow is included
for the black box displaying the most
disturbing and violent photos. In
addition there is a 17 minute
documentary about Juhan Kuus as
well three other slideshows for
smaller screens with photos of
South African extreme right-wing
group AWB, his published work and
photos of Kuus’ personal life. We
also distribute a smaller exhibition
of 55 images under the title Memory
as a Weapon.
 URMAS LANGE
ARNO SAAR
VÄINO MERESMAA
Self-invented people
The face of Soviet era punk in Estonia
This unique exhibition focuses on the
individual and group portraits of
punks shot by Arno Saar, Urmas
Lange and Väino Meresmaa. Photos
give the audience a chance to look at
the rebels and free spirits of the
Soviet time straight in the eye
providing an intimate view into the
world of punks behind the iron
curtain.
The punk culture and its rise
in the Soviet Estonia gave local
photographers an opportunity to
capture something different from the
grey and featureless mainstream,
offering visually intriguing material by
the predominantly extravagant
appearance of punks. The rebellious-
ness of the punks and their
opposition to the governing regime
was the reason why the Soviet militia
and the KGB kept harassing the
punks by random arrests and banning
their concerts and meetings. This
made the punks a top attraction for
more courageous and adrenalin-
thirsty photographers.
Exhibition details: Original exhibi-
tion consists of 70 non-framed
images, printed on HP Premium Satin
paper including printed white
passepartout.
MAXIM MJÖDOV Russian Album
This is my Russian album – without words, about the roots
Maxim Mjödov is a self-taught photographer from Tallinn. Russian Album
received the Artproof Grant Estonia in 2014. The photos were shot in Plotitchno
village, Pskov, Russia in September 2014.

Exhibition details: The exhibition consists of 15 hand-printed images of

different size; 100 x 76 cm, 62 x 46.9 cm and 38 x 29 cm. Mounted on aluminum in
oak frames with optiwhite glass.
MAXIM MJÖDOV Mäe (The Hill)
Mäe takes us to the peripheral
landscapes of Lasnamäe, the suburban
area of the capital Tallinn, which is
widely considered as the major residen-
tial area of the Russian-speaking
population who mostly arrived to
Estonia from all over the Soviet Union.
For the author, this project is very
personal. He refers to it as the
landscapes of childhood – the “first
place” or the the omphalos (the Greek
word for navel that symbolizes the
centre of the world) and it is strongly
associated with his identity. He writes:
“My connection with the “first place” is
still persistent. In 1989 I was one of the
first kids to run between the newly
finished panel-block apartment
buildings of the 7th micro-district of
Lasnamäe, the high-rise residential
area east of Tallinn. Nine-storey
buildings grew before my eyes as the
idols in the middle of endless waste-
lands and burnt grass – it all fascinated
my 6-year-old consciousness.”
Exhibition details: This project contains
a selection of negatives taken from 2007
through 2017. All photographs are
hand-printed and toned by the author.
This is an ongoing project and the
collection is being updated regularly.
Please ask to see the latest collection.
MAXIM MJÖDOV Kanikulõ (Holidays)
Kanikulõ or Holidays is a photo
project by Maxim Mjödov based on
the negatives of the abandoned
family album found next to the trash
bin portraying the recreation time of
the unknown Soviet Estonian family
around 1950s and ’60s. This project
introduces documentary photogra-
phy in the most comprehensible
manner for a wider audience, i.e. by
family albums, while offering the
opportunity to experience the magic
of the analog photography through
Maxim Mjödov’s technical mastery.
Exhibition details: The exhibition
consists of 30 hand-printed images
in 50 x 60 cm size, using the
silver-gelatin process and which he
toned with his original signature
technique.
MAXIM MJÖDOV
BIRGIT PÜVE
ANNIKA HAAS
The Others
Three photographers open doors that lead into three
different communities of the Others in Estonia.
Estonia is a small country in northeast-
ern Europe with an area of 45 339 km2
and the population of 1.3 million. We are
few but we have several layers of
minorities and communities whom the
local Estonian-speaking majority refers
as the Others.
Maxim Mjödov takes us to the peripher-
al landscapes of Lasnamäe – a subur-
ban area in the eastern part of capital
Tallinn, widely considered as the major
residential area for the major Other –
the Russian-speaking population. The
work of Birgit Püve examines a small
settlement of Vao in the eastern part of
Estonia and it’s current inhabitants.
This remote village has survived thanks
to the immigration and at the same
time, the immigrants have always been
one of the most obvious examples of
Otherness. Annika Haas sheds light
upon the most mysterious minority of
the Others in Estonia – the Romas or
Gypsies, as they are called by locals
who look at them suspiciously.
Exhibition details: Althogether 37 works
are on display. 20 works 50 x 50 cm;
17 photos in three sizes (60 x 48 cm,
65 x 49 cm, 94 x 68 cm); 5 prints on 5 mm
glass 60 x 48 cm.
LUCA BERTI The Blink of an Eye
Estonian Portraits and Landscapes
For six years Luca Berti has
been committed to a large-
scale documentary project,
Man and nature in the 21st
century, in which he records the
life of rural communities in the
Nordic countries and the
Baltics. Luca Berti’s speciality
is in taking photos the old way,
using labour-intensive and
comparatively slow analogue
photography. On his journeys
he uses a Linhof Technica
camera, which is mounted onto
a heavy tripod, and 10 × 12 cm
negative plates.
The journeys of Luca Berti
along endless roads result in
unique photojournals that
record contemporary life.
Berti’s crisp black and white
photos reveal his charming,
idiosyncratic artist’s hand-
writing, employing carefully
selected composition, intuitive
wisdom, sensitivity and an
intentional aspiration for
timelessness.
Exhibition details: The exhibi-
tion consists of 60–80 hand-
printed images in 50 x 60 cm
and 30 x 40 cm sizes. There is
also an option to put together
the extensive exhibition of
Luca Berti’s large-scale project
Norden, which consist of
portraits and landscapes from
Denmark, Norway, Sweden,
Finland, Estonia and Latvia.
ANNIKA HAAS OMG, she is BALD!
Driven by her own experience of contra-
dicting opinions evoked by a shaved
head on a woman, Annika Haas wanted
to capture on film other women who, for
various reasons, have ultra-short or no
hair at all.
Throughout the history of humankind,
hair has been attributed magical
powers, and has been considered the
source of power and vitality. Long hair
has been regarded as the token of
wealth and power, a status symbol in
social hierarchy until the 1920s–30s,
when the archaic magic of hair was
replaced with the magic of beauty.
Although public opinion considers hair
to be the adornment of the gentle sex
these days, there are women who
derogate from that standard.
Exhibition details: Ready-to-ship
exhibition consists of 24 pigment-ink
printed photos and polaroids in white
wooden frames with museum glass and in
sizes of 55 x 80 cm, 40 x 40 cm, 30 x 40 cm
and 60 x 85 cm.
SILVIA PÄRMANN The Countries That Do Not Exist
The Countries That Do Not Exist is a
documentary project by Estonian
photographer Silvia Pärmann that
follows the everyday life in the countries
and regions that have all the trappings
of a real country – they've got govern-
ments and independent spirit, quite
often their own currency and military,
sometimes they even issue visas and
stamp passport on the border – but
they don't officially exist. For various
reasons they are not allowed represen-
tatives in the United Nations and are
ignored by most governments. Most of
them declared independence in the
1990s - around the same time Estonia
declared independence and became
fully recognised country.
Exhibition details: This is an ongoing
project. Ask for the current status and
for the exhibition relase date.
 KRISTEL LAUR TOOMAS JÄRVET
kristel@dokfoto.ee toomas@dokfoto.ee
+372 522 2422 +372 501 0777

JUHAN KUUS DOCUMENTARY PHOTO CENTRE

Telliskivi Creative City
Printed by Printwise

Telliskivi 60a, 10412 Tallinn, Estonia

dokfoto.ee