Photographs by Ljiljana Maletin Vojvodić

In the spirit of conceptual artistic practice, Vojvodić uses the procedures of repetition and variation in photographs of himself standing in the same position in different places, including Reykjavik, New York, Tokyo, and Hiroshima. The shifting landscapes and cityscapes emphasize the nomadic presence of the artist. The posture of his own figure in the photographs does not simply allude to the Romantic motif of Rückenfigur, a figure seen from behind in historical landscape painting and photography, but can be understood as a statement of his anonymity and feelings of placelessness. Clothed in a black hoodie and black pants, the artist hides his identity as he stares intently toward the sea, cities, mountains, and a massive bonfire. While a Rückenfigur in a composition often encourages the viewer to identify with the body and to be similarly awed by the landscape, Vojvodić’s enigmatic, silhouetted stance impedes this analogy. Vojvodić, hiding his own identity, ironically calls the series of photographs a portrait study.