Stevan Kragujević Explained

Stevan Kragujević
Birth Date:4 February 1922
Birth Place:Senta, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes
Death Place:Belgrade, FR Yugoslavia
Occupation:Photojournalist and art photographer
Nationality:Serbian
Period:1950–2002

Stevan Kragujević (Serbian Cyrillic: Стеван Крагујевић; 4 February 1922 – 17 April 2002) was a Serbian photojournalist and art photographer.

Career

Kragujević was born on 4 February 1922, in Senta, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. He began practicing photography at the age of 14 upon the insistence of his father.[1] He started in a small studio in his hometown before moving to Belgrade where he eventually started to work as a professional for the Tanjug agency.[2]

His first notable photograph was of the destroyed bridge in Senta during World War II he took at the age of 19.[3] In 1943, he bought a colour film and used it only for the most valuable shots, one of which was "A Goose-girl", a photo of a young woman with a basket and geese in a Vojvodina alley. The photo, entitled "A Motif from Vojvodina Village" was published on the front cover of "Duga" magazine, in 1950.[4] It was Yugoslavia's first illustrated magazine with the first front cover in colour.

He was the first photojournalist hired by the newly formed Information Agency at the Presidium of SFRY. Kragujević became a member of the selected team of photographers in Tanjug (1951–1953), and from 1953 until retirement in 1982 a photojournalist and photo editor of the daily newspaper "Politika".

In 1950 Kragujević made the first official portrait of President Tito, intended for foreign embassies and correspondents. He would go on to accompany Tito in foreign trips where he would take photographs of him. Tito's entourage would carefully curate the photographs that were intended for official use.

Over his career, Kragujević accumulated a rich stock of photos of President Tito, covering his trips around the country, visits to various companies, meetings with foreign statesmen, along with a series of casual anthological, unofficial ones. Because of that, many people considered him Tito's personal photographer – which he was not.

During his work in "Politika", especially in the period of modernization (after moving to the new, present-day building) he held other important positions – Chief of the Photolaboratory and Photo department of the company. For a long time he was the head of the Photo department, passed on his experience on his younger colleagues, and organized the work of the photo editorial office. Until his retirement, he was also a photo editor and helped in introducing a new section in "Politika", especially the one stressing the real value and importance of photography U slici i reči (In pictures and words).[5]

Photographic documentation

With his ample work, Kragujević made a unique documentary chronology about the development of Yugoslavia, being an eyewitness, as a photojournalist, of all important political, cultural, artistic and sports events. As an accredited correspondent, he was present at all the events in the Yugoslav Assembly, Party and Union conventions, May-Day Parade and Youth Day, formation of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM, Brioni, 1956), student protests in 1968, natural disasters and accidents (Skoplje earthquake, 1963).

The gallery of his portraits of politicians, statesmen and monarchs in the second half of the twentieth century, who visited Yugoslavia at that time include Nehru, Muammar Gaddafi, Nasser, Indira Gandhi, Khrushchev, Edward Kennedy, Elizabeth II, the British Queen, the Greek Royal Couple, and also other outstanding persons in the field of science, literature, film and sports such as American astronaut Neil Armstrong, opera star Mario del Monaco, chess magician Robert Fischer, film stars Laurence Olivier, Gérard Philipe, Yves Montand, Elizabeth Taylor, Orson Welles, Yul Brynner, as well as a lot of artists and legends in the country, musicians, actors and writers – Nobel Laureate Ivo Andrić, Branko Ćopić, Desanka Maksimović, Dobrica Ćosić, Vasko Popa.[6]

Exhibitions

He took part at numerous international and Yugoslav exhibitions, and was also the author of special one- man shows, most often dedicated to his home town Senta. His first solo exhibition – One hundred photographs by Stevan Kragujević was held in his native town Senta from April 28 to May 5, 1956. The last exhibition, in the Museum of the Town of Senta in March 2000, next to 65- year jubilee of dealing with photography – symbolically represented Stevan's whole work.

Legacy

One of the most important books on the life and work of Stevan Kragujević was published posthumously, marking his passing. The photo monograph entitled Prostor večnosti (The Space of Eternity) was edited by Borivoj Mirosavljević and was published in the series Zlatno oko (The Golden Eye) by Foto i kino savez Vojvodine, Novi Sad, 2003 (Photo and Cinema Association of Vojvodina), and supported by the City Assembly of Senta. The book was promoted in April 2003 in Senta, Belgrade and Novi Sad, followed by exhibitions of his most significant works.

Owing to the efforts and willingness of Tanja Kragujević, Stevan’s daughter, a remarkably valuable piece of Stevan Kragujević's heritage was established in the Museum of Yugoslav History on April 1, 2015. The legacy holds nearly 6.000 original negatives and about 1.500 photographs, many books and catalogues about Stevan Kragujević and those with his photos, as well as dozens of items and documents giving evidence of his profession as a photojournalist, and also about his cooperation and friendship with many outstanding contemporaries home and abroad.

Among the photos, making this way the photo archives of the Museum of Yugoslav History more valuable, are those telling about the activities of President Josip Broz Tito in the country, numerous portraits of other politicians who marked the second half of the twentieth century, and also the photos of the Students Protests of 1968 and political events in the last decade of the life of Yugoslavia.

Authorial works

Books with the works of Stevan Kragujević

Important publications with the author’s works

Anthologies, collections, lexicons

Awards and acknowledgements

Special acknowledgements:

Sources

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Dimitrijevic . M. . Заоставштина која се мери километрима . Politika . 1 April 2015 . Serbian.
  2. Web site: Legacy of the Family Kragujević . arhiv-beograda.org.
  3. News: Stevan Kragujević autor antologijskih snimka Josipa Broza . Blic . 19 April 2015.
  4. News: Ivanji . Ivan . Tito i javnost . Vreme . 21 July 2023.
  5. News: Beograd kakvog više nema . Politika . 11 February 2018.
  6. News: Stefanović . Miroslav . Vesnik Nobelove nagrade . Politika . 11 November 2021.

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