Similar
photograph lined on aluminium plate
50 cm x 70 cm (3 pcs)
2006
The series of photographs was taken in Vienna and Barcelona in 2006 and 2007. By portraying random passers-by, non-professional models in an elaborate and humorous way, she records phenomena related to contemporary life and its everyday reflections in the domains of fashion, pop culture and the lifestyle of (non)urban environments.
In a certain sense, Aleksandrija Ajduković’s practice has been a phenomenon on the Serbian photographic scene for several years due to her interest in hybrid models of presence and culture of spectacle. The Similar Series points to some cycles created at about the same time (Tigresses, Chinese, Fashion Journal…), and to the author’s continuity in her work as a visual anthropologist. The work of Aleksandrija Ajduković often demonstrates her interests within phenomena in reality; she examines specific cultural models – the lifestyle of individuals and groups, fashion (self-fashioning), taste, but also the potential of photography as a resource for its further dispersion into other media formats.
© Cultural Centre of Belgrade, October Salon Collection and the artist
Gift Contract: III-5-289/24.9.2014.
Inventory No. 1351
Photo: Milan Kralj
Selected Bibliography:
Aleksandrija Ajduković: NONAME Riviera, Sept. 16 – Oct. 23, 2016, catalogue of the solo exhibition, Salon of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Belgrade, 2016
Aleksandrija Ajduković, Tretman tela u popularnoj vizuelnoj kulturi: teorija animal printa, doctoral dissertation, University of Belgrade, Faculty of Dramatic Arts, Theatre, Film, Radio and Television, Belgrade, 2018
Crime Scene
3 framed lomographs and 1 photograph
20 cm x 30 cm x 10 cm; 100 cm x 70 cm
2012
The works from the Crime Scene Series throw light on the places of suffering or crime that the author photographed in the period from 2008 to 2012. It is a work on the photographers’ scavenger nature, on crime scene reports, death and the circumstances of dying and the possibilities of positioning such photographs on the international art photography market.
Aleksandrija Ajduković started this series while working in Italy and continued it when she returned to Serbia, where she kept going to the field with journalist teams. This series of photographs can also be seen as the documentation of her performative work within the research of the anthropological aspect of the spectacle of death and misfortune in modern society. For Aleksandrija Ajduković, crime scenes are perverted and inspiring for experimental photographic work she does in the field – following the crime scene reports, but she records them from a somewhat different perspective.
© Cultural Centre of Belgrade, October Salon Collection and the artist
Purchase Contract: III-5-475/15.12.2014.
Inventory No. 1379
Photo: Courtesy of the artist, Milan Kralj
Selected Bibliography:
Aleksandrija Ajduković, “Smrt – od tabua do popularne culture”, in Kultura: journal for the theory and sociology of culture and cultural policy, No. 146, Belgrade, 2015, pp. 264–274
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Aleksandrija Ajduković (1975, Osijek, Croatia) graduated in photography from the BK Academy of Arts in Belgrade and completed her master’s studies at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad. She was Marina Gržinić’s guest student in Post Conceptual Art Practices at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. By portraying random passers-by, non-professional models in an elaborate and humorous way, she records phenomena related to contemporary life and its everyday reflections in the domains of fashion, pop culture and the lifestyle of (non)urban environments. Photographs are the starting point for a media archaeology of private video archives of the people who either live or work in the facilities represented in the photographs, or are part of home video production. She was a finalist for the Dimitrije Bašičević Mangelos Award twice, won Henkel Youth Artists Prize in 2005 and the 45th October Salon Award. She has had a large number of solo and group exhibitions in the country and abroad. More information at http://ajdukovicaleksandrija.com/