Urša Culiberg: Street Photography in Ljubljana: Turning People into Main Characters

Exhibition curator: Julija Hoda

The exhibition draws on street photography as a practice that places ordinary people at the centre of visual narratives. Scenes constantly unfold in public spaces, yet often go unnoticed. Recognising them as carriers of meaning, the project translates these moments into images in which each individual steps briefly into the role of protagonist – without direction, intervention, or staging, solely through the power of the gaze and the choice of the moment. In Slovenia, street photography remains markedly underrepresented and is often understood merely as spontaneous observation. The exhibition instead presents it as a conscious, long-term, and methodologically considered practice grounded in observation, repetition, and selection. The photographs are not random snapshots, but the result of sustained work within the same urban environment, where scenes with inner tension, dramatic structure, and visual weight gradually emerge over time. Cankarjev dom’s Small Gallery is conceived as an extension of the street, and the exhibition layout responds to the Gallery’s transitional function – a space through which people pass, not necessarily intending to view the exhibition.