Josip Klarica
Still Life on Which the First Snow Fell, 1985
black-and-white photograph, paper
196 × 295 mm
MG-6866

Josip Klarica (Belgrade, 1946 – Zagreb, 2020) was one of the most important Croatian artistic photographers. He studied photography at the School of Applied Arts in Zagreb and film cinematography at the prestigious FAMU in Prague, where he formed a close relationship with photographer Josef Sudek (Kolin, Czech Republic, 1896 – Prague, 1976). Klarica was renowned for his black-and-white photographs of still lifes, portraits, and landscapes, imbued with a surreal and meditative atmosphere.
In his work, he used antique cameras, including a camera obscura and a self-reconstructed panoramic camera from 1845 based on the design of Friedrich von Martens (Venice, 1806 – Paris, 1885). He produced contact prints from his negatives, emphasizing the handcrafted and authentic nature of the photographic process. In addition to photography, Klarica was also engaged in film, advertising, and the research of historical photochemical techniques.
Among his most significant works is the photograph Still Life on Which the First Snow Fell, created as part of the series Still Life, which Klarica developed between 1976 and 1984. The series consists of sixteen carefully conceived photographs characterized by classical still-life motifs, harmoniously interwoven with elements of landscape and metaphysical reflections on space.
This photograph depicts a table covered with a tablecloth, set with a simple meal arrangement, a glass bottle, and a glass. In the background, an outdoor space covered in snow can be discerned, along with a fence and garden elements, lending the scene the atmosphere of a cold winter morning. The snow gently settling on the table enhances the sense of stillness and quietude that is characteristic of Klarica’s still-life cycle.

Text: Luciana Fuks, Curator for Museum Documentation at the National Museum of Modern Art © National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb
Photo: Josip Klarica © National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb