Ago Ruus opened his curated photo exhibition 'Two Old Photo Albums' at the Vastseliina Community Center on October 10.

On the walls of the community center, two amateur photographers meet, originating from different worlds, but their work is united by a common location - Vastseliina, formerly known as Neuhausen and its surroundings. Art enthusiast Reinhold Karl von Liphart of Vastseliina Manor and Peeter Jaaska's son of the Vasekoja Mill, growing up as a student of the Treffner School, were fascinated by a shared interest - photography at the beginning of the 20th century. A hundred years later, by fortunate circumstances, it is possible to see a small part of these men's photos with your own eyes.

Leonhard Jaaska's Album

Võru resident Ülle Kobin, who bought a country house in Loosi village, discovered a very old photo album while exploring and cleaning the rooms, containing photos of Vastseliina Castle ruins, the Piusa River, and mills. Based on this, she decided that the owner of the album could originate from the Vastseliina area. Thus, the album ended up at the Vastseliina Library, and through the librarian Lea Lillemets, Ago Ruus, dedicated to researching the history of photography in Võrumaa, had the opportunity to study it. A first look at the album indicated that it was a very interesting and exciting find from the early 20th century.

After a longer search, Ago Ruus reached the solution to the mystery. The album belonged to Peeter Jaaska's son, Leonhard Jaaska of Vasekoja Mill on the Piusa River, who was also the author of most of the photos. He acquired the art of photography while studying at Hugo Treffner Gymnasium in Tartu. After returning home following his studies, he diligently captured the mill and rural life. The photos in the album were mostly taken between 1916 and 1920, with a total of 104 photos of different sizes and varying technical quality. What makes the photos valuable is that they originate from a time for which very few visual documents have survived to this day.

Reinhold Karl von Liphart's Album

While working at Marburg University in Germany, Latvian Academy of Arts professor Ojars Sparitis discovered the personal photo album of Baltic German Baron Reinhold Karl von Liphart, containing nearly two hundred photos taken by the baron himself on his estate in Vastseliina in the early 20th century.

The artistic and mature nature photographs and views of the estate captured by the art-loving amateur photographer R. K. von Liphart led the professor to write a scientific article about the baron as a hobby photographer and his album photos in the context of the era.

Thus, Ojars Sparitis' article 'The World of Vastseliina estate in 1913: Reinhold Karl von Liphart as a Photographer' was born, which was published in the 25th issue of the 'Baltic Journal of Art History' at the University of Tartu.

Through several people, the information from this article reached Ago Ruus this year, who immediately contacted the author to obtain additional information about the photo album and the photographer. Now, two months later, a small part of these photos has made it to the recently opened exhibition at the Vastseliina Community Center. 'Perhaps it will be possible to further introduce the baron's photo legacy in the future,' Ruus already has plans for the next steps.

Reinhold Karl von Liphart (1864-1940) was the last majoratherr of Vastseliina and, at the same time, Raadi Manor. The manor lord had little interest and desire in practical estate management; however, he was interested in the fine arts, dedicating more time to expanding his art collection and studying the works of old artists. Photography was just one of many hobbies.

The photo exhibition 'Two Old Photo Albums' is open in the foyer on the second floor of the Vastseliina Community Center from Monday to Friday at 9-16 and during events. For more information, please call 5345 4214 (Vastseliina Community Center).