Maišiagala. From series "Photographs".

Pay close attention to the composition of Vytautas Balčytis photograph "Maišiagala" from the series "Photographies." What is most important there? Its main axis is the staircase leading to the body of water in the distance. The steps are documented from the photographer's viewpoint from somewhat below, crouching near the ground, so that they appear monumental and larger than they really are. Most likely, these steps were part of a now collapsed bridge. Thanks to the photograph, the steps –– now no longer used and leading to nowhere –– have taken on a symbolic meaning. In their form, they are reminiscent of the Tower of Babel or an altar dedicated for sacrifices to the gods. Or perhaps they are stairs to heaven, to eternity?
This photograph shows how banal, routine objects can be transformed in the mind of the viewer into metaphors for the fabric of the world, the cosmos or eternity. One needs only to look at them with a philosophical eye. As noted by the art critic Agnė Narušytė: "...they are a true strict form of haiku, in which the banal routine unexpectedly lights up with a feeling of contact with the transcendental, with the rhythm of the world and the harmony of existence."
The photography of Vytautas Balčytis' generation (which also included Alfonsas Budvytis, Remigijus Pačėsa, Remigijus Treigys, and Alvydas Lukys) is ascribed to the so-called "boredom aesthetics." It emerged as a rebuttal to the optimistic view of the world cultivated in the 1960s by the humanistic "Lithuanian Photography School" movement.