Iosif Király: Through photographs I understand better what I experienced

The (in)visible condition of the (post-)communist world becomes a central topic in the photography of Iosif Király (1957, Timișoara) which reflects a type of visual thinking characterised by the consideration of the image as a zone of contact between lived reality and imagined or promised visions of the future. Actually, from his position of researcher of the quotidian, the artist observes the multifaceted spectacle of the urban landscape, rendering, through photography, its own dynamic and changing character.

Starting from the way photography was used and understood in the local artistic context before 1989, Iosif Király discusses in this interview his own reception of the photographic image as a visual language and cultural phenomenon, focusing on some personal projects started in the ninth decade. It is the case of the associative and collective thinking projects, such as the first department for photography of the University of Arts in Bucharest or that of the subREAL Group to which he affiliates himself.

During the 1990s, photography becomes for the artist the main tool for research of the changes and the trends occurring in Romanian society. Thus, the process of tracing the dynamics of the public space, and the different strategies of re-appropriation of the social territory gives him the chance to develop the Indirect project—a set of narratives relevant today in a retrospective reading of recent history.

Interview: Alina Șerban
Artworks: © Iosif Király, © subREAL (Călin Dan, Iosif Király, Dan Mihălțianu)
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Camera & video editing: Dan Iordache
Subtitles: Diana Bularca, Ștefania Ferchedău
Music: Lucian Meţianu, Pythagoreis, 1970
Parkour & IP visual identity: Radu Manelici
Parkour Video visuals: Sebastian Pren
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Film produced in the frame of the projects “Uncensored Act” and “Performing 89”.

The project is part of the national cultural programme “Timișoara—European Capital of Culture in the year 2023” and is funded by the Municipality of Timișoara, through the Center for Projects. Cultural project co-funded by the Administration of the National Cultural Fund.

The project does not necessarily represent the standpoint of the Administration of the National Cultural Fund. AFCN cannot be held liable for the content of the project or the manner in which the outcomes of the project may be used. These shall devolve entirely on the beneficiary of the financing.