[sunday] Romualdas Požerskis—Raminta and Alfonsas

Six years ago or so, this picture appeared on my computer screen. No title, no caption, no author, no anything. Needless to say, I was transfixed. I had never seen anything like it. The naked jogger, the midget.  A perfect capture. I tried to imagine how the picture came to be. There had to be a story, but I was clueless.

I fed the picture into Google Images and found the artist’s name, Romualdas Požerskis, and then I found Romualdas on Facebook. I wrote him to inquire how I could get a print. He told me the price and I wired the money. In time, the photo arrived. I got it framed and have been enjoying it ever since.

Romualdas lives in Lithuania.

He told me a little about the picture. He had been photographing Alfonsas for ten years, starting around 1990. Alfonsas had never been to the seashore, so Romualdas made arrangements to take him to the Baltic Sea for a day. He also arranged for Raminta, a young cellist and model, to be there. You can see a gallery of images here. You can buy the book,  “Little Alfonsas”, here. It’s only $15 and it’s one of the best photo books I’ve ever seen.

From the book website:

Romualdas Požerskis “Little Alfonsas”
This book by Romualdas Požerskis (1951) tells the story of a farmer who was the smallest man in Lithuania. He was just 90 centimetres tall. In 1992, children burnt down his house while playing; he had to live in a car, and later in a bus. The same year, the photographer saw him in the town of Šilutė, and drove him to the bus station so that he could get back to his village. Thus, the little man became the subject of a photo-reportage. Even though the series is called The Troubles and Joys of Alfonsas, almost no troubles can be seen in the photographs. The plants and animals around him seem bigger than usual, and have human qualities. The end of the book pictures the hospital. The wrinkles on the face stand out against the sterile white background. Alfonsas died in 2008. Still, he waves to us from the last photograph, as if he has returned from a fairy tale in which he was living, to our reality, where there is no place for him.

I heard from Romualdas at New Years. He sent me another picture of Alfonsas and Raminta from that afternoon at the sea.

Romualdas also included a picture of Raminta with her daughter, Vasara, which he shot last year. I think she must be about 45 now. A lovely woman.

Here is Romualdas’ website: www.pozerskis.com

What a cool guy.

Happy Sunday.

Here’s a selection of beautiful Lithuanian music, old and new.