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maltatoday | SUNDAY • 24 DECEMBER 2023 TRIBUTE 11 Zvezdan Reljic, beloved photographic artist and MaltaToday designer, passes away at 62 Sudden passing of Zvezdan Reljic, photographer who captured hundreds of photographic portraits and nudes, and opened his home to creatives ZVEZDAN Reljic, a former print and publishing specialist who gave MaltaToday several of its iconic newspaper identities, has passed away after a sudden health episode. He was 62. Reljic, who built a life in Malta in the early 1990s after leaving the former Yugoslavia together with his late wife and seam- stress Jasmina, was well known as a publishing specialist with an undying love for the art of photography. The couple had three children, Teodor, author and former film critic at Malt- aToday, Jovan, and Tia, also a former staff journalist. For over 10 years, he was a member of Network Publica- tions, later Mediatoday's de- sign and print staff, ideating the MaltaNow cultural and arts supplement for MaltaTo- day, and later in its magazine format. He later redesigned MaltaToday's look, selecting the fonts which remain, to this day, part and parcel of the print newspaper's identity. "He was a wonderful man who made Malta his home and dream," said Saviour Balzan, Mediatoday owner, who worked closely with Rel- jic. "Both Zvezdan and Jasmina were incredibly creative indi- viduals. Zvezdan developed one of the first online, cultur- al magazines – MaltaMag – which we purchased from him as a company. When he moved on, he kept developing his love for publishing, print, paper and design. We miss him terribly." Reljic co-founded the Kix- ott co-operative, which he ran from its bar in Mosta as a hub for creatives, as well as EDE Books, the publishing house which this year won the Na- tional Book Prize for Loranne Vella's Marta Marta. More re- cently, his tactile approach for the love of publishing came to the fore with his series of 15 chapbooks, a collection of hand-bound (personally by him), fresh contemporary writ- ing and artwork, by established and upcoming authors and art- ists. As a graduate of the Graph- ic Arts School in Belgrade in 1983, Reljic rediscovered his specialisation in photography reproduction many years lat- er by holding his very unique workshops on black and white film photography and dark- room printing at his Sliema apartment. Countless students of his, friends and loved ones, visited his humble home to learn more of his craft and his ongoing design projects, to be entertained by the Reljic family for annual festivities, or taste his iconic coffee blend, a secret he gladly imparted to anyone who had the luck of knowing him. Apart from the myriad pro- jects for publications, Reljic be- came synonymous with his ex- tensive collection of analogue film photographic portraits and nudes. The previous found their rightful place in Wiċċna, a collection of 200 photograph- ic portraits of individuals from different backgrounds, gen- erations and ethnicities, who resided in Malta, many accom- panied by a short caption taken from the individual's answer to the often complicated question "Where are you from?" – to Reljic, always a 'Yugoslav' first, this would have been a reply replete with tales of a forgot- ten world in that liminal space between the West and the Iron Curtain. Using the lith printing pro- cess, Reljic's chosen technique, he took pride in creating virtu- ally 'unduplicatable' portraits. "No two prints can ever look the same," he said. "It's an al- ternative to more traditional forms of black and white pho- tography, as it's a hand-print- ing technique, using black and white or colour negatives, a suitable black and white pa- per and lith developer – from which the process gets its name." He used similar techniques for his nudes, where the sensu- ality of the female body posing or frolicking in his apartment delivered representations of women untroubled by the gaze, at ease on a sofa or inside his kitchen, the unlikely setting for subtle, playful and even absurd 'erotica'. It was Reljic's answer to stuffy establishment tropes, a sensibility that placed him proudly at the margins, silently enjoying a well-rolled cigarette and a cup of coffee. How did he manage to open his house as this kind of hav- en for so many in the arts? For so many were the people who entered Reljic's apartment, accepting to be captured on film or spend long hours in the darkroom, undoubtedly at- tracted by the gentle warmth of this soft-spoken artist, his deadpan humour, but also the childlike passion in the pursuit of his work. For his was a unique talent – even the untrained eye can sense that Reljic captured one's personality and natural dispo- sition from behind the lens. It was his honesty and sensibility that managed to bring out the beauty in his subjects and all those who posed for him. These 'projects' – his pho- tography, books of poerty and prose, photo-books and his cooperative – all form part of a legacy of undying love for art and culture, elevated to a plane that went beyond pecuniary gain. They all belonged to the insatiable mind of Zvezdan Reljic. The staff at Mediatoday join the Reljic family to convey its deepest symapthy on the loss of a beloved father, brother, uncle, husband, and friend. MATTHEW VELLA mvella@mediatoday.com.mt