Andrej Pešta: Baro frajeris – Big Shot

Pešta could build a sauna, a smokehouse, or a garden gazebo. He owned a car, enjoyed fishing, and went on trips. He lived a life that many Roma under socialism saw as an unattainable dream, and that the majority society viewed as an unimaginable anomaly. The Baro frajeris exhibition therefore does not focus solely on the author himself, but also contributes to reshaping the image of the Romani man in collective memory. At its core, it is about the construction of identity and self-perception: how a person forms an image of themselves, whether consciously or unconsciously. In this context, it is not important who holds the camera or who physically presses the shutter. What matters more is what the act of photographing expresses. The uniqueness of this author lies in his almost obsessive need to document himself in an endless process of self-observation and reflection. These are not just ordinary self-portraits but a systematic examination of his own identity through images, again and again, in various poses, contexts, and moods. It is as if Pešta, through photography, was trying to understand, grasp, or perhaps even create himself.

During his life, Pešta engaged in many forms of creative work, including writing, painting, forging, and documentary photography. However, for many years, his photographic work remained overshadowed by his other activities. Although he was a member of the cultural and social organization Union of Gypsies–Roma, where he worked as editor of the periodical Románo ľil, led the folklore group Jagóri, and actively took part in discussions about standardizing the Romani language, his photographic archive only came to light in the 21st century, and it did so through his own initiative.