Authors of Photograph selection and exhbition display: Matko Biljak, Božo Majstorović, Ante Verzotti
„…Matko Biljak's exhibited photographs testify to the undisputed motivation: they were primarily created as photographic news-reports that would, after satisfying journalistic curiosity and illustrating the subject, reach value of self-sufficient work. For these photographs can now exist without text, even without a title. With this they have fulfilled the task of photography as a media that does not serve illustrational purposes, nor gives only the copy of reality. They are one important segment of the same reality, especially chosen frame, an attainment of sudden balance or instability of the scene. However, in spite of the feeling that we are witnessing something special within the scene, this photography does not delude us by directing or later digital manipulation. Each photograph can verify that the the scene had actually happened, that it wasn't constructed or artificially produced by subsequent manipulation…“
Vinko Srhoj, from the exhibition prologue
Matko Biljak was born in Split in 1968. He has been involved in photography since 1985, when his works first appeared in „Omladinska iskra“. During the period from 1988 to 2005 he contributed to „Slobodna Dalmacija“ daily newspaper, followed by a post in „Elite“ magazine.
Sine 1993 up to now he has been working for Reuters and shooting photo essays for Getty images. His photographs have been published in numerous foreign newspapers and magazines. He is a member of ULUPUH and since 2000 he has been engaged as an art photographer in the Croatian National Theatre in Split. His photographs are published in monographs and other publications; he has participated in more than 40 group exhibitions in Croatia and abroad and has been awarded for his collections several times.
