Zeljko Tutnjevic

Portraying 10 years of Le Petit Festival behind the eyes of the Dubrovnik’s photographer Zeljko Tutnjevic

Željko Tutnjević is not a photographer… He is not an actor. He is not a writer… He is not a philosopher… He is not a seducer… He is not a painter. But in his photographs you will sense all of those “nots”! Much more real… He is a creator of the moment. “Željko, how did it all begin?” “I borrowed Zorki on 10 March 1974 and was so delighted with the photographs that on 21 March 1974 I bought this SMENA 8M, my first and unforgettable camera…” He has always remained faithful to cameras from the East. This was followed by a short “socializing” with Zenit E… And then there was a strange symbiosis of Željko and Praktica Super TL. The Land of the Rising Sun has brought him two big loves. First, the Nikomat a long time ago, in October 1977, and then Nikon’s, to the present day… They turned a romantic Slav into a follower of “Zen Click Click”. No one can grasp the beauty of the illusion of a moment so wonderfully as Željko can… The past, the present and the future are merely photographs that repeat themselves over and over again. The dialogues between Željko’s index finger and the eye are games that create and teach…. Those “strange ceremonies” are called ’koan’ in Japanese, and a simple translation of this word would be zen stories.… which are born in the lenses of his favorite, Nikon. Yes, this is how the career of one of the most interesting Croatian photographers began, and still goes on…. Many years ago Željko told me: &No, photographs are not made with a camera only… You have to use the explosion of a capricious force of the second that communicates with unknown artistic forms of your heart… while this final click! is being born… The limitations of words and colors taught me to look and to explore the depth of my alter ego… some call it NIKON.& Love is when you don’t have to do anything… only… Yes, precisely! Only you and diverse empty spaces that will fill up your click, click, click…