PART 3 - WINDOWS - RESEARCH ON MARIO MAGAJNA
Mario Magajna:
a window on Trieste, its people, its time
a window on Trieste, its people, its time
Mario Magajna was born in 1916 in Križ (Trieste), where he spent his childhood. In the same city he passed away on october 2007.
He was a photojournalist for the Slovenian minority newspaper in Italy "Primorsky Dnewnik".
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| Mario Magajna |
Magajna said about himself and his job: "The profession of photojournalist is beautiful. It is beautiful because it makes it possible, or better still, forces one to always find oneself "in the arena of life", in the midst of events, since every relevant fact must be resumed. If, however, the aspiring reporter lacks the due sensitivity or expects everything to fall from the sky, then he would do better to choose another profession.".
Magajna has documented the most important events in Trieste during the turbulent years after the Second World War: the trade union struggles, the demonstrations for the rights of the Slovenian minority of Trieste and the counter-demonstrations of the Italian majority against integration, in a historical moment in which the contrast between the so-called "free world" and the communist one risked igniting again not only Trieste, but all of Europe.
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| Demonstration against bilingualism |
Magajna's photography, in a Trieste that has always witnessed divisions and contrasts between identities, was an element of union and this merit is recognized today both by the Italian and Italo / Slovenian communities.
But Magajna was more than a photojournalist: he was the photographer of his time, of his and other people.
Magajna opened not one but more windows on a city that rapidly changed its face.
But Magajna was more than a photojournalist: he was the photographer of his time, of his and other people.
Magajna opened not one but more windows on a city that rapidly changed its face.
He created beautiful portraits of children and ordinary people, movie stars, politicians, sports champions, old crafts and new habits, urban and peasant perspectives.
On a recent trip to Trieste, which is about 130 km from where I live, I was able to visit an exhibition dedicated to this celebrated photographer and buy a book dedicated to him.
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| Bread sellers from Servola and milk sellers from Carso, Trieste, 1/2/1947 |
On a recent trip to Trieste, which is about 130 km from where I live, I was able to visit an exhibition dedicated to this celebrated photographer and buy a book dedicated to him.
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| 2016, ISBN 978-88-7174-196-3, Editoriale Stampa Triestina, 34137 Trieste, Italy |
I noticed that his photographic style and the object of his
photography have strong analogies with what I studied in part three of
this course, with particular reference to the "windows" theme.
Each of his images tells a story, fascinates us, transports us to a world and a time that Magajna lived both as an outsider (as a photojournalist) and as an insider (as belonging to the Italian/Slovenian minority).
Always with the photographer's eye and attention to detail to expressions, to the so called "decisive moments", he created images that, in my opinion, have nothing to envy to Cartier Bresson, and people's portraits, that remember Robert Frank.
Always with the photographer's eye and attention to detail to expressions, to the so called "decisive moments", he created images that, in my opinion, have nothing to envy to Cartier Bresson, and people's portraits, that remember Robert Frank.
I believe that technical imperfections, within an aesthetic perfection recognized by all critics, in his photos, give even more realism, freshness and credibility to everyday images, with a strong historical reference.
Being dragged in that time and in that world is the thing that fascinates me the most, and I believe that this peculiarity is determined by Magajna's sensitivity to the world around him.
If a difference can be found with his more famous colleagues, this is in the fact that Magajna has mostly moved within the city of Trieste or a bit around, but not for this reason his photography has suffered from lack of horizons, since Trieste has always constituted a world apart, with its position directly on the border between Italy and Yugoslavia first, Italy and Slovenia then, at the junction point between west and east worlds.
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| Milk women and laundresses waiting for the bus, Trieste, 14/10/1951 |
One of Magajna's most famous photographs depicts a schoolboy standing on an uneven and precariously balanced boulder.
Of course this is one of my favorite photographs, with this beautiful composition of the pupil balanced on the boulder, the paper boat he has just built and launched into the water of the port, to which he turns his back.
In the distance you see a ship and its plume of smoke, and you see the lighthouse, the "Lantern" of Trieste.
This research on Mario Magajna, as well as those I completed in other courses on Robert Frank, Walker Evans and Dorothea Lange, have certainly influenced my photographic style and made me understand that the road I want to follow is that of street and urban photography.
I envy these authors a little, not so much for their fantastic ability, but in particular for their sensitivity to the subject and also for the historical periods in which they lived.
Today mistrust, closure, aggressive mood are much more present in people who meet on the street, and it is more difficult to photograph a subject unless he is unaware or very well known. I received so many no, even rude, at the sight of the camera.
However, I intend to continue and I believe that the attitude of mistrust and closure could also be a topic that I could develop.
Magajna used to say: "... I often took the first photo without permission, I asked" can I photograph you at work? If the photo is good, maybe it will be published in the newspaper ". Usually they answered yes."
Magajna used to say: "... I often took the first photo without permission, I asked" can I photograph you at work? If the photo is good, maybe it will be published in the newspaper ". Usually they answered yes."