On February 18, the photo archive of Jurgis Vaitulevičius (1932–2001), a long-time Lithuanian television cameraman, was transferred to the National Museum of Lithuania, significantly supplementing the collections of the Photodocumentation Center. The archive was entrusted to the museum by the author’s sons, Arvydas and Romualdas Vaitulevičius.

A Legacy of More Than Thirty Thousand Frames

Jurgis Vaitulevičius worked for the national Lithuanian television his entire professional life – he began his career in the first decades of the development of television, and during the period of independence he prepared live broadcasts from the Supreme Council and Seimas halls.

Photography, which was J. Vaitulevičius’ personal hobby, accompanied him throughout his working years, therefore the archive reveals not only the official history of television, but also its behind-the-scenes history.

“The photo archive also contains images of Vilnius’ changes and everyday life. The beginning of the construction of apartment buildings, the undeveloped right bank of the Neris, the changing Žvėrynas and other districts are recorded. In addition, there are scenes of street life, kindergarten celebrations, home life, and people’s portraits,” says Virgilijus Usinavičius, a photographer at the National Museum of Lithuania who works with negatives.

According to Rūta Kačkutė, Director General of the National Museum of Lithuania, J. Vaitulevičius’ legacy significantly supplements the museum’s accumulated fund of visual memory.

“We are pleased that this collection of more than thirty thousand frames contributes to the development of the museum’s Photodocumentary Center and strengthens our capabilities to research, preserve, and present the country’s visual history. Such archives allow us not only to record facts, but also to recreate the moods of the era and details of everyday life, which eventually become invaluable historical sources,” says R. Kačkutė.

In recent years, when his son Arvydas Vaitulevičius and collector Aidas Pikiotas became interested in J. Vaitulevičius’s work, some of the images began to be published on social networks.

“Museum employees drew attention to the publicly available photos, contacted the author’s family and took a deeper interest in the legacy of this little-studied author. The carefully managed and responsibly preserved archive with detailed documentation is an undoubted discovery for both historians and the wider public,” notes Jolanta Bernotaitytė, Head of the Photodocumentation Center of the National Museum of Lithuania.

A Father’s Shots, Reminiscent of the City of the Past

As his son A. Vaitulevičius states, his father constantly took photographs, walked around with a camera, and as a Lithuanian television cameraman, it was both a part of his profession and a part of his lifestyle.

“It was as if there was no great moment of discovery – we knew that the archive existed, we understood its significance. Until then, we had only seen a small part of the frames – my father used to make control prints, but most of the negatives remained in the drawers. Now, not only episodes of the family’s life in Žvėrynas, but also very interesting images of Vilnius, which have already acquired historical value today are gradually emerging,” says A. Vaitulevičius.

Romualdas Vaitulevičius notes that after assessing the scale of his father’s photo archive, it became obvious – it would be difficult for the family to take care of this legacy alone.

“We are very happy that these frames will become available to others – it is not only the history of our family, but also images of Vilnius and Lithuania. It is important to us that the archive has entered the Photodocumentary collections of the National Museum of Lithuania – here it will be professionally preserved and accessible to the public, researchers, and will have the opportunity to continue to exist,” says R. Vaitulevičius.

An Important Contribution to the Photodocumentary of the National Museum of Lithuania

The photo archive of J. Vaitulevičius significantly contributes to the targeted development of the Photodocumentary Center of the National Museum of Lithuania, which was established in 2023, and strengthens its role as one of the most important centers for the collection and research of Lithuanian photography in the country.

Today, the museum has accumulated almost 400,000 storage units, including several dozen photographers’ archives. The collections of Antanas Ališauskas, Marius Baranauskas, Rimantas Dichavičius, Algimantas Kezias, Ona Pajedaitė, Algimantas Kunčias, Mečislovas Sakalauskas, Antanas Sutkus, Raimondas Urbakavičius, Stanislovas Žvirgždas and other authors are stored here.

The digitalization of the archive of J. Vaitulevičius has already begun: negatives are being rephotographed, archived, contact sheets are being prepared, and exhibition silver gelatin prints have been printed. According to the Director General of the National Museum of Lithuania, such archives are an exceptional gift to the museum, researchers and the public.

“The J. Vaitulevičius archive has clear future potential – this material opens up opportunities to present it in exhibitions and other public formats, supporting the activities of the Photodocumentary Centre and bringing back to the field of Lithuanian cultural memory an important but long unseen visual narrative,” says R. Kačkutė.