Jazz on the Oder, Wrocław, 1966, photo press material, Tadeusz Rolke, courtesy of the artist
The National Gallery of Art in Warsaw is exhibiting over 200 photos that capture leisure time during the period of communism in Poland. Titled Czas wolny. Fotografie (Free Time. Photography), it includes the work of six photographers from that era.
According to the curator Łukasz Modelski, the exhibit was inspired by his book Fotobiografia PRL. Romuald Broniarek, Aleksander Jałosiński, Bogdan Łopieński, Jan Morek, Wojciech Plewiński, Tadeusz Rolke. Opowieści reporterów (Photobiography of the PRL – Tales from Reporters). The six names listed in the title are the artists who’s photographs will be featured in the show.
In collecting material for the book, Modelski viewed a multitude of photos and still had not found them all.
“The exhibition shows images of PRL citizens when they are not restrained by a formal situation such as work. Through the eyes of these six photographers we see a Poland where the people decide what they do with their own time” – says Modelski.
The curator hopes to inspire visitors to ask themselves whether the free time they see captured in these images was truly free or perhaps just partially so.
The exhibition includes around 200 photographs, most of them in black and white. It covers almost the entire period of the PRL with the first photo being taken in 1955 and the last in 1989.
“The citizens of The Polish People's Republic were busy building socialism till 4 p.m. But after work, in their free time, they became totally different people” – says Aleksander Jałosiński who’s photos are included in Modelski’s show.
The photographs depict the everyday life of Poles. Some artists captured family outings to waterfronts, others snapped images of casual loafing or the careless attitude. Some of the images served as propaganda in the interest of the authorities. Photos were published under official titles for a variety of articles, interviews and reports. Of the six photographers featured in the exhibit, the oldest was born in 1928 while the youngest in 1940. All of them spent their working lives in the PRL filling positions at newspapers like Przekroju (Cross Section), Przyjaźni (Friendship), and Perspektyw (Outlook), or else working for Polish publishers and the Central Photographic Agency.
Jałosiński described the intention of his photographs as trying to show the uncensored aspects of life in all its forms: culture, industry and politics.
“Eighty percent of my photos were never contracted.” – says Jałosiński. "I photographed in order to document was was going on around.”
The premier of the book Fotobiografia PRL coincided with the opening of the exhibition. The book was released on the 12 of August, 2013 and was published by Znak.
The exhibition will be on display until September 22.
Sources: PAP, 12/08/2013, Author: Lucyna Szura
Translation: SMG 13/08/2013