The first 'thaw' photo albums, including Lublin, differ from their predecessors through dynamic arrangement of photographs on the spreads, a larger format, as well as a particular, more artistic tone which rejects the strictly propagandistic character of most publications from the first decade after the war. Among the elements of this novel poetics are the literary introductions to the albums, authored by writers and poets (such as Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz, who wrote the introduction to the Andrzej Brutman's album Sandomierz, publ. Warsaw, 1956). Lublin is Hartwig's first publication in which the literary commentary was written by the artist's sister, the poet Julia Hartwig. Later on, they co-created many other publications (e.g. Moja ziemia/My Earth, Warsaw 1962). The introduction, as well as the captions in Lublin (also authored by Julia Hartwig) are still tainted by the socialist realist pathos (e.g. 'A young little stone mason hews a fragment of a bold attic' or 'Joyous, light steps; fatigued steps… how much the stairs of the Old Town houses could tell!'). The whole, however, anticipates the new formula of photo publications in Poland – treating them as a full-fledged, personalised form of artistic expression.
photographs: Edward Hartwig
texts: Julia Hartwig
graphic design: Edward Hartwig (preparation and layout of photographs) and Jan Kucharski (title page and typography)
publisher: Sport i Turystyka, Warsaw
year of publication: 1956
volume: 168 pages
format: 31 x 24.5 cm
cover: linen hardcover with dust jacket
print run: 15 150