photo: Gerald Howson Archives / History Meeting House
The exhibition gathers 60 outstanding, black-and-white photographs by British painter and photographer Gerald Howson, who visited Warsaw, Kraków, Nowa Huta, Auschwitz and Lublin in 1959 upon request of ‘The Queen’ magazine. Most of the photographs from Howson’s trip were unknown to Polish audiences, and only very few of them were ever published. The whole archive remained in the drawer of Howson's desk until 2008.
Howson went about documenting life in Poland, differently from Polish photographers of the time. His images utilize painterly compositional techniques and form. Curator Bogdan Frymorgen comments on Howson’s approach: “ He knew about the war tragedy of Poles, but he was not aware of many details of this drama. Strolling along the streets of Cracow, Lublin and Warsaw he refrained from any photographic judgments. He just observed and photographed everything that in his mind looked un-British.”
The current viewing at History Meeting House continues until 31 December. Previously, part of Howson’s collection has been presented in the Centre for Jewish Culture in Kraków and in the Grodzka Gate Centre in Lublin. Howson’s collection is scheduled to travel to London in 2014.
The exhibition is accompanied with a Polish-British album, a catalogue, and now also an iPad application for both English and Polish speakers. This even is co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of Poland.
Go to application on iTunes.
Edited by E.M., 04/12/2013