Masked Ball

Boštjan Lah is an excellent photographer and a subtle observer of life. He is a trained sociologist, which is reflected in his photographs. They always capture the moments of relationships between people, relations between them and the surroundings. The aptest, however, are those capturing people in relation to something visible in the photo, which the people depicted were not aware of when the photo was being taken. Lah responds to diverse situations, whereas triggered by social shifts or expressing intimate action. Some of his photographs are brimming with humour, others capture depth, but the majority of them reflect contemporary urban life. Sometimes he gets so close to the person portrayed that he makes us wonder how he managed to prevent his presence and his camera from interfering in the situation. Like his other series or individual photographs, the series of photographs taken by Boštjan Lah during the epidemic is a reflection of our times. In this case, it also provides a perfect chronology and a unique record of this period in all its peculiarity. If the unexpected world in masks on Lah's photographs inspires astonishment even now that we are living it, imagine their testimonial value once this period is hopefully somewhat distant. Or better, when we distance ourselves from it.

(Jerneja Ferlež)