Tone Stojko (1947) is undoubtedly one of the most important Slovenian (and formerly Yugoslav) photographers of the last half century.
The general public knows him for his photojournalistic achievements, he is also known for his photographic portraits (among others, he has photographed Prešern awardees for the past 28 years), and in the theater he is famous as a master of theater photography - there is no theatergoer in Slovenia who has not (at least) heard of Tone Stand.
Tone Stojko's theatrical opus is extremely extensive - it includes more than 310,000 recordings. He photographed performances of repertory theaters as well as many productions of extra-institutional groups - often the latter for free or almost free, because he wanted them to remain recorded, but also mainly out of love, indeed passion, for theater in all its diversity and vividness.
He had his first solo exhibition of theater photographs in 1983 at the Glej Theatre, later it was on display at the Cultural Center in Nova Gorica, the Ars Gallery in Ljubljana and as part of the MESS festival in Sarajevo. In 1984, he received an award from the Prešeren Fund precisely for the exhibition of theater photographs. With it, he bought his first video camera and started recording performances of Slovenian theaters. In 1985, he exhibited theater photographs in the Gorenje Museum in Kranj, in 2002 in Umag, Ljubljana, Maribor and Slovenj Gradac. His bilingual monograph was published in the same year Theater Photography/Theatre Photography. It was published by Prodok, doo (Tone Stojko, together with his son Simon Stojko Falko, founded the theater documentation center Prodok teater TV in 1997), and the Slovenian Theater Museum (predecessor of today's Slovenian Theater Institute) assisted in its publication.
It covered the photographer's oeuvre from 1969 to 2002 and therefore had a subtitle From Pupilija to Juliet/From Pupilija to Juliet.
Tone Stojko, the Slovenian Theater Institute (we keep Stojko's theater opus in the iconotheque collection) and Prodok, doo, agreed last year to publish a digital upgrade of this monograph. This is how the electronic book was born Theater photography 1.1. & 1.2/Theatre Photography 1.1. & 1.2., which includes a selection of Stojkov's theater photographs from the period from 1969, when he took his first theater photograph, to 2016. The e-monograph consists of two chapters - the original, printed edition of the book (which is slightly modified in the electronic edition), a set has been added of photos, addressed From the Naked Pianist to the Dog, night and knife/From The Naked Pianist to The Dog, the Night and the Knife. It is dominated by color photographs taken in the period from 2002 to 2016. With contributions Ivo Svetine and Dušan Jovanović from 2002, the book also contains a professional article about the photographic work of Tone Stojko, which she wrote for the electronic book dr. Marija Skočir. The book was edited by M.Sc. Tea Rogelj and Simon Stojko Falk.
As mentioned, Tone Stojko took his first theater photos in 1969 - he was already photographing high-profile, but now cult shows The noble mold Pupilija Ferkeverk and Pupilija, papa Pupilo and Pupilčki. Both were directed by the "cultural terrorist" Dušan Jovanović, with whom they worked regularly in later decades, so it is not surprising that Tone Stojko's e-book Theater Photography 1.1. & 1.2. and dedicated the exhibition of the same name to this playwright and director.
Jovanović je o Stojkovi gledališki fotografiji zapisal: "I am sure of one thing: if a good photographer has nothing to show, then the show had nothing to show either. Nemara was just babbling. Theater should learn from photography. She reveals the truth and exposes 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!'"
The Slovenian Theater Institute accompanied the release of the electronic book with a traveling exhibition Tone Stojko, Theatre Photography. It was designed by the curator mag. Tea Rogelj. We opened it on June 7, 2024, as part of the Borštnik's Meeting Festival in SNG Maribor. In a slightly modified form, it will also be shown in 2024 at the Slovenian Theater Institute in Ljubljana (opening on October 1 in hall SLOGI) and at the Anton Podbevšek Theater in Novi Mesto.
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