Jon Žagar »Pastir podobe«

Jon Žagar’s photographic series The Shepherd of Images was created during repeated visits to a mountain pasture where, after the herd’s seasonal departure, a single sheep remained throughout the winter. The continuity of these encounters linked individual photographic situations into a process within which the relationship between the photographer and the animal evolved: his presence, which initially had a direct influence on the animal’s behaviour, gradually became a less and less significant factor.

This shift is the central starting point of the series, which explores the conditions under which a photographic image is created through questions of presence, distance, repetition, and the reciprocity of gaze. The sheep responds to the photographer by approaching, retreating, and gazing, while the photographer adjusts his position in response to her reactions and his own expectations. Through this process of return, he develops a working method aimed at gradually diminishing his own presence as an event. As the animal’s response changes, so too does the relationship within which a photograph can emerge.

The title of the series links this process to shepherding as a form of monitoring, regulating, and maintaining a relationship. The crucial moment is when the photographer’s presence ceases to be a disturbance but is not yet entirely ordinary. Once the animal grows accustomed to it and the immediate reaction fades, the relationship upon which the series is based also comes to an end.

Tonal reduction, limited spatial distinction, and an emphasized two-dimensionality convey this transitional state to the viewer’s experience. The subject remains recognizable, while the space is established gradually and remains partially undefined. The gaze shifts between the surface, the motif, and the suggested depth; the scene eludes a definitive spatial resolution.

In this way, the image’s shepherd links the duration of the photographic process with the duration of the gaze. The photograph becomes an artifact of a relationship in which the position of the viewer is (co-)shaped in response to the one who returns the gaze.

– Matej Tomažin

Jon Žagar (1989) has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions, including: Vihar mi v kozarec vlil je ocean (2025, Ex Arte Gallery, Ljubljana), Sintorpija (2024, KIZC Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Slovenia, Ljubljana), and Splavi po reki Lethe (2024, Historical Atrium of Ljubljana City Hall), where he explored the concept of syntropy – the tension between humanity’s tendency toward order and the omnipresent entropic force of decay. In the exhibition Brez objekta  (2022, Photon Gallery, Ljubljana), he explored the boundary between mimetic and experimental photography, while in Temačno sublimno (2017, MSUM, Ljubljana), he focused on a contemporary artistic interpretation of the concept of the sublime.

He has received several awards for his work, including the Primavera Award. His photographs have been featured in international festivals and exhibitions such as After All (2016, Photomonth, Kraków, Poland), Apropriation of the Moment (2015, Dig Gallery, Košice, Slovakia), and Predvidevanje (2014, Photogether Gallery, Zlín, Czech Republic).