Touring Exhibition Tone Stojko, Theater Photography je bila prvič na ogled v okviru Festivala Borštnikovo srečanje junija 2024 v SNG v Mariboru, oktobra in novembra so si jo obiskovalci lahko ogledali v Slovenskem gledališkem inštitutu, decembra v Anton Podbevšek Teatru v Novem mestu, februarja in marca letos pa v Kulturnem domu Krško. V sodelovanju s Tržiškim muzejem gostuje v Tržiču; v Galeriji Paviljon NOB smo jo odprli v četrtek, 9. oktobra 2025, ob 18. uri. Na ogled je do 6. novembra 2025.
Utrinki odprtja potujoče razstave v Galeriji Paviljon NOB v Tržiču, 9. oktobra 2025. Foto: Nika Buček/Tržiški muzej.
The exhibition accompanied the release of the e-bookof the same name. Curator Tea Rogelj, MA selected from the photographic material published in the book the photographs taken between 1969 and 2016 . The exhibition was designed by Nina Šturm. Tone Stojko dedicated the book and exhibition to Dušan Jovanović, with whom he began his theatrical journey.
One thousand and one nights, Tone Stojko - as Scheherazade's brother - passed through the theater and stared at the continuous flow of images brought to life by the sweat, blood and tears of the actors, and with his Polyphemus eye caught light and shadows, art and life, theater and play; to overflow this, he stores boundless wealth in the depth of his gaze, where he will imprint on photographic paper, washed with diluted acid - like an old sculptor in a white working stone - the images of the only real life: the life of human dreams, which came to life in the theater, which revived the theater. (Ivo Svetina, 2002)
I am sure of one thing: if a good photographer has nothing to show, then the show has nothing to show either. Nemara was just babbling. Theater should learn from photography. She reveals the truth and bares the matter to the bone. Stojko's photography does not seduce or obscure, does not hide, does not mystify, but mercilessly reveals. She follows the advice that Gertrude gives to Polonius: "More real, less embellishment!" (Dušan Jovanović, 2002)
The stage as a scene for a photographic frame fascinated him, and the freedom of movement and play marked the creation of his own artistic vision. For Stojko, theater and artistic photography are inextricably linked, mainly because the documentation of emotionally charged events on stage, in which gestures are condensed and the atmosphere of the event can be felt in the air, represents for him much more than just material for an authentic record of the event - it offers him the possibility recreating a work of art, which takes place almost unrepeatably on stage, with its own tool – a photographic or film camera. (Dr. Marija Skočir, 2024)
Tone Stojko (b. 1947) is undoubtedly one of the most important Slovenian (and formerly Yugoslav) photographers of the last half-century. Among others, he has taken portraits of Alfred Hitchcock, John Lennon, and Yoko Ono, concert photos of Tina Turner, and since 1996, he has been photographing all recipients of the Prešeren Award and the Prešeren Fund Award (he himself is among the latter).
Next to documentary and portrait photography, one of his core interests has always been theatre. His theatre oeuvre includes over 310 000 photos which all contain his recognisable artistic signature.
From the media (in Slovenian)
Razstava fotografij Toneta Stojka, Poročila ob petih, TV Slovenija 1, 23. 10. 2025
Touring Exhibition Tone Stojko, Theatre Photography
Author: Tone Stojko * Curator: Tea Rogelj, MA * Design: Nina Šturm
Translation: Barbara Skubic * Proofreading: Andraž Polončič Ruparčič * Proofreader for English language: Jana Renée Wilcoxen
Produced by the Slovenian Theater Institute (SLOGI, represented by: Dr. Gašper Troha), co-producer: Prodok, doo (represented by: Simon Stojko Falk), 2024. SLOGI is financed by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia.
Photo editing: Tone Stojko * Printing: OKVIR doo
In the cover photo: Dušan Jovanović, Who Sings Sisyphus, SNT Drama Ljubljana, premiere on January 12, 1997. Photo: Tone Stojko; source: SLOGI.
