A woman photographer in the 19th and 20th centuries. at the junction: unusual in Europe, but everyday in Palanga | Culture

A modern artist who was loved by Palanga

Palangiskii 19th century. at the end of the 20th century at the beginning, in the town and its surroundings, they were used to seeing a woman with a camera, driving a horse-drawn bric-a-brac to photograph summer residents. Paulina Mongirdaitė was a real person of the resort, who was loved by both the people of Palanga and vacationers. She was an extravagant and modern woman, with a cool, receptive mind, with wide interests: she drew, played the piano, read a lot, sewed, smoked papyrus. Paulina wanted to start a family, but she never got married. Perhaps in order to support her family, she learned the craft of photography and became the first woman in Lithuania to set up the glass artistic photography pavilion “Fotografija” in 1889.

Paulina Mongirdaitė worked unusually a lot and everywhere: she “portraited” summer vacationers and city guests in her pavilion, she herself prepared the chemicals needed for printing photos, often developed negatives at night, wrote invoices. She was fascinated by the possibilities offered by photography to capture a passing moment and convey it with a unique, painterly look of an artist. Drawing and photography were her passions in life.

Photo by Augustinas Bėkšta/Jonas Šliūpas Museum, Department of the National Museum of Lithuania.

A “detective” investigation that preserved the history of Mongirdaitė

19th century at the end of the 20th century in the beginning, female artists, especially photographers, were a rare phenomenon in Europe. Maybe for this reason, or maybe because Paulina Mongirdaitė worked in the province, her personality and works did not attract much interest from researchers before.

The exact date and place of birth of the photographer is not known, and the place of burial in Palanga is also unclear. Her name does not appear on the lists of photography schools in Warsaw where she is believed to have gained experience. Little is known about her personal life, who she communicated with, what connections she had with Count Stanislaus Kazimierus Kosakovskis from the Vaitkuškii Manor or Countess Marija Tiškevičiūtė from Palanga. For a long time it was not known what she looked like. The uncertainty was dispelled by a fateful coincidence, when Jolanta Klietkute, the historian of the Kretinga Museum, got her hands on a photograph of Palanga with the signature “Paulin Mongird”. This sparked the historian’s professional curiosity and led to a detective-like search that revealed more and more facts about the photographer’s life one after the other and finally led to the identification of her portrait.

In the exhibition “Woman with a camera in the 19th century help – 20th century pr.” the portrait of Paulina Mongirdaitė from 1903 from Count St. preserved in MK Čiurlionis Museum is being presented to the public for the first time. K. Kosakovsky’s album. This is one of only three known portraits of her. Next to the portrait, three group photos from 1895 from the museum of M. K. Čiurlionis are exhibited, accompanied by an interesting story that led to the portrait on display.

Photo by Mindaugas Siurblis/Exhibition “Woman with a camera in the 19th century”. help – 20th century pr.” in the Jonas Šliūpas Museum.

Visitors to the exhibition are invited to “turn the camera” and look at the photographer Paulina Mongirdaitė through her own eyes: examine her portrait, delve into the vicissitudes of her life, try to imagine what kind of character and manner a woman could have chosen the extremely rare profession of a photographer at that time; everyone can experience the researcher’s joy in discovering the unknown stories of the photographer’s life and work.

Accompanying events

Visitors are invited not only to visit the exhibition, but also to participate in accompanying events that unleash creativity. Families will be treated to a Dive into the Blue cyanotype workshop, where they can try out one of the first methods of photographic imaging that does not require a camera. Those who want to explore the history and context of Paulina Mongirdaitė even more deeply, the Jonas Šliūpas Museum will invite you to a meeting with the curator, art critic Agne Narušyte. The exhibition “Woman with a camera in the 19th century” help – 20th century pr.”, you will be able to explore while listening to the narration of the tour guide.

Photo by Mindaugas Siurblis/Exhibition “Woman with a camera in the 19th century”. help – 20th century pr.” in the Jonas Šliūpas Museum.

The Jonas Šliūpas Museum will present a new interactive orientation walk-game “Palanga through the lens of Paulina” to visitors. Its participants will be able to explore the modern resort the way Paulina Mongirdaitė once explored it. Not only rare archival images of Palanga, but also stories told by the photographer’s contemporaries related to the places visited will be waiting at the stops of the famous route. Don’t forget your camera or camera phone to capture the moments of this adventure.

The exhibition “Woman with a camera in the 19th century” help – 20th century pr.” will operate in the unit of the Lithuanian National Museum in the Jonas Šliūpas Museum (Vytautas st. 23a, Palanga) until 2024. July 7