Elsewhere Here– through the lens of Klavdij Sluban

Born to Slovenian parents in Paris, Klavdij Sluban spent his childhood in Livold near Kočevje before returning to Paris. After studying Anglo-American literature, he taught himself black-and-white analogue photography, which has remained his exclusive mode of photography to this day. He began his career as an independent photographer in 1992 with a series of portraits of Slovenian poets. Choosing to work as an artist rather than documenting the Balkan war, photography became his way of life, bridging his Slovenian-French and nomadic identities.

Between closed and open spaces

Sluban's work moves between the confined spaces of juvenile prisons in France, Eastern Europe and Central and South America, and the vast landscapes of his world travels, characterised by solitude, silence and deep contemplation.

Since 1995, he has been photographing juveniles in prisons and holding photography workshops for young prisoners, sharing his passion and allowing them to express themselves creatively in environments that are often devoid of hope.

The journey from Elsewhere to Here could not have existed without Sluban's key, most extensive and extreme journeys, as these are a sure route into the highly individual authorial language that makes his photography distinct and recognisable. Among these journeys, many converge in time and geography, each representing an entirely new experience – for example, his long journeys on the Trans-Siberian, Trans-Mongolian and Tibetan railways, which he has previously presented in East to East and Transsibériades series, as well as sojourns in extreme conditions and remote, isolated places, such as the Kerguelen Archipelago.

The distance that interests him most and the distance he aims to bridge is not geographical, nor is it the distance between him and his subject, but the distance between him and his camera.

The only sharpness that matters is the sharpness of feeling in symbiosis with the gaze that cuts into the vision of the frame.

Sluban's photographs are landscapes inhabited by all the senses; this is reflected in the contemplative ending of the exhibition, where a photograph of the gate of a Shinto shrine on the island of Itsukushima is complemented by a soundscape, giving a holistic experience of snow and Japan – two of Sluban's most poetic motifs.

Appreciated around the world

Klavdij Sluban exhibits his integrated and continuous photographic projects at major international festivals, museums and galleries around the globe, often complementing them with photobooks and other publications of exceptional quality. His work is held in national collections and institutions worldwide, and he has received several prestigious international photography awards.