Šymon Kliman: Cigáni na pekno (Dressed-up Gipsies)

(roman babjak) Šymon Kliman has made an unexpectedly powerful series of fashion photos in the completely untypical environment of gipsy interiors. Actually, these photos are not fashionable at all.

Šymon Kliman is a young Slovak photographer who just graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava. He focuses on fashion and style photography. Even though he applies the language of fashion magazines in the “Cigáni na pekno” series, the theme itself is absolutely anti-fashion: It brings an original perspective of the Slovak Romany people who live close to Kežmarok. The concept is very simple. First, Kliman asked these people to put on their best Sunday clothes. Then, he took photos of them in their very photogenic houses – as most Romany interiors are. “It was smooth sailing,” says Kliman.

Although they may be a bit grotesque in Kliman’s series, these are truly magical, fairy-tale portraits that reveal the age-old desire of people to be beautiful and happy. The series was his diploma project for the Department of Photography and New Media at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava, from which he won the Chancellor’s Award. The whole series can be viewed at photo.sittcomm.sk.

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