Antanas Dilys is one of the pioneers of Lithuanian photography, who devoted his time in history with works whose significance is beyond the reach of contemporaries, and which will only be fully revealed in the perspective of a more far-off time. Starting his career in photography at a time when creative photography in Lithuania was at a standstill, A. Dilys soon found himself at the forefront of a burgeoning organised photographic art movement alongside other activists. However, he not only encouraged others to create and share their work, was active in his own work as well, but also saw the sense of not taking time to capture the present time, to collect and preserve everything that represents it. He looked back to the past, to the origins of Lithuanian photography, and began to consistently collect the legacy of the old masters of photography as well as the relics of the photographic culture of our past, which had been scattered by the wars and disruptions. Dilys raised the idea of the Lithuanian Museum of Photography and, with his talented realisation, laid a solid foundation for the tradition of preserving our photographic heritage. Today, The Photography Museum in Šiauliai, founded by A. Dilis, preserves the legacy of his photographic activity and creativity, which he gave to the Museum free of charge. After giving his all to the museum and the photographic community, he has made only modest efforts to present his own work more widely. Thus, in this first album, we will discover the time and people of A. Dilis, still unknown to many.
For the first time, the album presents a retrospective presentation of the photographer Antanas Dilis's artistic legacy, most of which is preserved in the Museum of Photography in Šiauliai.
