The album is divided into seven parts. Each of them is devoted to one of the countries where Niedenthal used to work: Poland, Germany, the Soviet Union, China, Romania, Hungary, and Bulgaria.
The part on Poland presents images of the country’s first free elections after World War II, which took place in June 1989. It includes photos of countryside fences covered with Solidarity posters, polling stations or the opposition’s headquarters in Niespodzianka cafe in Warsaw. One of the most touching images shows a man covered with a towel and sitting on a stool in front of his house. A woman in a flowery skirt is carefully cutting his grey hair. The caption says: ‘June 4th, Kąty village near Warsaw. A man prepares himself to vote in the first free elections in his lifetime’.
The album is full of such touching images. The part on Germany is abundant in emotional photogaphs documenting the fall of the Berlin wall. Tears in the eyes of the residents of East Germany who greet their neighbours from West Germany for the first time, mixed with silhouettes of soldiers. There is also a symbolic photo of a metro train car from East Berlin attached to ones from West Berlin, covered with commercial ads.
The part on China surprises with its proximity. To take such detailed photos, Chris Niedenthal had to be in the very centre of the students’ demonstrations on Tian’anmen square. Close-ups of the faces of protesters, a provisional printery conceived during occupation – these are just some of the details documented by the photograph.
Photos from the Soviet Union occupy a considerable part of the album: photographs of Moscow intermingle with those of the republics of the Soviet Union. And again: tears, sweat, shouts and clenched fists of people tired with totalitarian reality appear. In contrast, their adversaries: committee of the Party, sumptuous dishes and poker faces of the authorities.
In the part dedicated to Romania, among some dynamic photographs a inconspicuous image of a grave appears. After reading the commentary, the image automatically gains new meaning. ‘Bucharest, unsigned grave in the middle of a cemetery path, where Nicolae Ceaușescu was buried after execution’, the caption reveals.
The album 1989: A Year of Hope is a must-read both for photography lovers and those passionate about history. It is one of those publications you keep retuning to, and it is absolutely intergenerational. To those who remember 1989, the book will be a reminder of the important events that triggered further changes. To members of the 1990s generation it will constitute a prologue for the times of their youth and adulthood. And, eventually, to those who come across the album in the future, the publication will provide a genuine and honest image of the past.
Sources: promo materials, Culture.pl; written by DS, 27 June 2017; translated by NC, July 2017