Kraków, however, most of all presents photographic images that demonstrate a novel sensibility that was rapidly disseminating among the enthusiasts of photography and historical preservation. After the first wave of straightforward, topographic documentary photography, which had dissolved by the end of the 19th century, came a moment of revision, which on one hand led to further popularisation of photography, and on the other – to a modernised perception of reality by artists and amateurs. In this context, Kraków is the first, perhaps still not entirely consistent, attempt at constructing a new iconography of the city, by means of less obvious views of its historic fabric. Instead of a strictly historiographical perspective, recognition of the city as a background for historical events straight out of Jan Matejko's paintings, or the endless documentation of landmarks, we look at vistas complemented by everyday staffage and picturesque shots of urban greenery in the spirit of Young Poland's modernism. The photographers contributing to this old-new Kraków seek to conform to the nostalgia for the great past and to raise Poles' spirits with their photographs, however their visual language evidently drifts towards the modern aesthetics. Kraków seen through their lens is ordinary, unpretentious, and heavily charged with the Post-Impressionist haze and Young Poland's spleen. The misty shape of St. Mary's Basilica photographed in rain, pigeons wandering on the adjacent square – the passing aura and ambient details become as important as the historical associations inscribed in Kraków's architecture. This is the point at which photography is not just oriented towards a topographic documentation, but also a visual recreation of the city's atmosphere. These are the beginnings of the nostalgic “magical Kraków.”
photographs: Tadeusz Jabłoński, Zygmunt Kremer, Amalia Krieger, Leonard Lepszy, Antoni Pawlikowski, Kazimierz Rumian, Tadeusz Rząca, Stanisław Stępiński
text and editing: Józef Muczkowski
publisher: Towarzystwo Miłośników Historyi i Zabytków Krakowa (Society of the Friends of History and Historical Monuments in Kraków)
year of publication: 1910
volume: 34 pages
format: 24.5 x 34.5 cm
cover: paperback, string-bound
print run: unknown
photographs courtesy of Kraków Photomonth