The undisputed master of portrait photography, in collaboration with the Museum of History of Photography in Kraków created a symbolic set of 44 images (out of a few thousand), which he named Teka Muzealna"/"Museum Portfolio (published in 2008).
With his project, Krzysztof Gierałtowski refers to the tradition of creating artistic portfolios in such forms as photographs (including the nineteenth-century albums of Karol Beyer and Jan Bułhak's work from the interwar period), along with graphics and drawings. The artist was first to publish his Portfolio in the post-war history of Polish photography. It is a collector's rarity, boasting high-quality prints of stunning photographs and accompanying anecdotal comments. The current exhibition brings this Portfolio to the public.
Ryszard Kapuściński described Gierałtowski as "a notable portraitist of notable Poles". The photographer has a characteristic technique for discovering the truth about his models. While his subjects are the most influential people from the Polish and international realms of science, art and history, he refrains from overly idealising them. His subjects have included: Magdalena Abakanowicz*, Kazimierz Brandys, Andrzej Gwiazda, Gustaw Herling-Grudziński, Kalina Jędrusik, Tadeusz Kantor, Krzysztof Kieślowski, Witold Lutosławski, Wojciech Młynarski, Czesław Miłosz, John Paul II, Roman Polański, Leopold Tyrmand, Lech Wałęsa, Tadeusz Mazowiecki and Andrzej Wajda.
What is very interesting in these black-and-white portraits is their inherent mystery. By staging certain situations or provoking the models, the artist pushes them to reveal unexpected features of their own character, exuding rather intimate and individual truths about each personality. The series has a unique aura, presenting outstanding people and their unconventional approaches to life, such as intransigence, open-mindedness, versatility and unbridled tempers. Much like contemporary portrait photographers such as Lord Snowden or Annie Leibovitz, Gierałtowski captures the essence of individuality in each of his subjects.
Krzysztof Gierałtowski in a supreme, sometimes perverse way manages to present those whose creative life has become part of the national culture. Next to each photo, the viewer can read the author's comments, who with a sense of humour and zest, yet still subtlety describes the "Individualities...".
In addition to the exhibition, the gallery presents a screening of a documentary film about Gierałtowski entitled Poles Poles (2002), directed by Borys Lankosz with cinematography by Marcin Koszałka.
Curator: Małgorzata Taraszkiewicz-Zwolicka.
The exhibition runs between May 14 - July 30, 2011.
Gdańsk Gallery of Photography
National Museum in Gdańsk
ul. Grobla I 8/11
www.muzeum.narodowe.gda.pl
Source: press release