WILD EXPLORATIONSVitalij Gulbickij projects, education
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Vitalij Gulbickij- a naturalist, publisher. I was born in 1984 in Vilnius, here I have finished a school and later the studies of ecology and biology in Vilnius University. I started to be interested in nature and its perpetuation while I was still in school. When I was at 11th grade, I made my first photos in the forest, in my hometown, where I still often go with a photo or video camera. With time, “running” in the woods became more than just a catching of beautiful images. It’s a peculiar condition of spirit, self realization, measure to recognize the environment. Being in the forest is like a travel to the other not discovered worlds for me. I am very happy that I can experience something that not everyone can see, and the most important part is that I can share my observations with everyone who is interested in nature.
First of all, frequent staying in nature demands a huge psychological patience, because not everyone can feel pleasantly lay in a swamp feeling the mosquitos bites or freeze in a tent waiting for timid animals. Moreover, nature’s watching demands regular improvement of specific knowledge. That’s how I was “forced” to become a speleologist and later pass the courses of climbing, so that I could explore the creatures of underground world and with alpinist’s equipment climb into the trees.
I don't know why I became a naturalist. As long as I remember myself nature was always in the first place for me. What comes from childhood is unexplainable or more than clear, or maybe you are born this way and you can’t change anything. Maybe my father’s hobby to watch TV series about nature and animals influenced me? Or maybe my grandfather, whit whom I have sat in a backyard on the bench and listened to incredible stories about world that surrounds us. He was the first one to show me birds and beasts and told stories about them... Or maybe naturalist’s and explorer’s vein appeared while I was watching vivid landscape of my hometown, where the meadow bloomed, the thunder roared, “stars” fell... “The falling star”, which I have seen in night sky for the first time, got me an idea about opportunity to build a little observatory, where everyone could raise their heads to the sky, know more about the distant worlds. Then I was 10 years old.
Nature’s photography and movie are the measures to know better the world surrounding us and if the measures are used correctly, they provide a chance to share the knowledge with other people. And that is one of the goals of this project. More about that you can find in chapter “Education”.
THE START OF CREATION
Once I came back after a casual filming somewhere close to Lithuanian and Belarusian border and I met my neighbor in the yard. He saw me with my camera and other equipment and asked me:
-So, are you filming again?
-Yes...- I responded quietly.
-Maybe you work for a television?
-No...
-Then maybe you sell movies?
-No...
The guy didn’t know what to ask more.
-Then why are you filming?
-For myself, because I enjoy it.
-For yourself?!- asked angrily- how is it possible?
He walked away, because he didn’t understand anything and was surprised that I don’t try to make money from movies.
And why not? I made my first photo in nature when I was at 11th grade. Not long from then at the same year in October’s 23-25 days some of my photos were exhibited in state’s students and youth photo exhibit “Colors of Earth”, which was dedicated to a campaign “Let’s clean the world”. Then I got a diploma of participant, but that was not the reason why I was motivated to work and picture the landscape in my grandparents village. The equipment was pretty bad (tape type), I had to trust only my intuition most of the time, because I had zero knowledge of photography. I tried to experiment and not long after my works were evaluated with diplomas in students art projects “The tale of nature”.
After school I started the studies of ecology, so the interest of nature’s photography got even stronger. Then I got myself a video camera and later a mirror photo camera, which raised possibilities of creation. I started to take images from macro to scared birds, but one of the most favorite genres become photography of the landscape.
Lately I give my attention to village theme, its old traditions, man’s interaction with nature, wooden architecture, for everything, that can easily disappear. I grew up in this kind of environment, so I am obliged to picture days at the village at least in pictures. Lately there were a lot of changes in agrarian landscape due to changed farming style and that touched the wild nature, because some organisms vanish and others start to spread.
PUBLICATIONS
- Gulbickij V. Saugomos augalų ir gyvūnų rūšys Vilniaus miesto teritorijoje ir Vilniaus rajone. Raudoni lapai 2008/10. Vilnius: Lietuvos Respublikos Aplinkos ministerijos leidinys, 2008.
- Gulbickij V. Saugomų rūšių stebėjimas Vilniaus apskrityje 2008-2009 metais. Raudoni lapai 2010/12. Vilnius: Lietuvos Respublikos aplinkos ministerijos leidinys, 2010.
- Gulbickij V., Stefanovič V., Griazina I., Košel A. Šikšnosparniai ir mes. Mažeikiai, 2011.
- Gulbickij V., Griazina I., Košel A., Stefanovič V. Pažinkime šikšnosparniu drauge. Žurnalas apie gamtą 2011/4. Kaunas, 2011.
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