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spokojna 15 gallery

Zofia Rydet

 

Spokojna 15 Gallery
Spokojna 15 Str.
Exhibition curators:
Andrzej Różycki
and Maria Sokół-Augustyńska

Exhibition Opening: 27.04,
7.00 p.m. / (untill 8.05)

 

 

"Art Photography of the Inter-War Period"

 

Spokojna 15 Gallery
Spokojna 15 Street
Exhibition Curator:
Magdalena Durda-Dmitruk

Show Opening: 10 May,
7 p.m. / untill 20.05

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

accompanying events

Zofia Rydet (1911-1997)

“The Infinity of Distant Roads”
text by: Andrzej Rózycki

Interest in the history of Polish photography has grown over the last few years. Various reviews and retrospections can be seen in many museums, galleries and exhibition venues. This is good, because in most cases artistic achievements in this sphere are significant. Luckily, shows and exhibitions are being put on but they are rather fragments of  old exhibitions, or usually singular photographs. After many years it is quite difficult to recreate and show a significant exhibition in its entirety and according to the author's original concept. In the case of Zofia Rydet a unique chance presents itself. It turns out that she very carefully stored all the photographs and clearly marked the shape and form of the exhibition which presented the photographic collection entitled „The Eternity of Long Roads.” It is now exactly thirty years since its premiere. She first presented the exhibition in 1980 in the Gdansk gallery GN. The VI Warsaw Festival of Art Photography poses a great opportunity. A good place is found and additionally the ideal exposition time to show the work of this distinguished artist. During the festival, as usual, a new generation of those hungry for seeing good photography will appear. The recreation of the full idea, reconstruction of the pure assumptions and presentation all the works from the original exhibition, will definitely shed some light on this collection. For a large number of photography lovers, this will be their first contact with Zosia Rydet's work. It is worth taking time to see the works as they show, how using analogue photography, the artist significantly surpassed the era of computer photography. "Most important is not how, but what one wants to say and where one sees the  sense of the creative process. I always wanted to create something which would evoke deep faith in its authenticity and because of this it would have the power to move people and force them to think...” (*) This is a universal declaration and refers to all of the author's work but the "not how, but what” is most suitable as the credo of the "Eternity ...” exhibition. When Zosia Rydet exhibits "Eternity..." for the first time in 1980 she is 69 years old.  When she started the endlessly wide collection of photographs called "The Sociological Note" she was 67. She did not know, however, that work on the "Note..." will take more than a dozen years. I am writing about age here (I think that I wouldn't dare to do this if the artist was still alive), because most artists-photographers usually extinguish their activities at this age. Contrary to its title, the "Eternity...” exhibition, has a remarkably thought-out and closed, so 'ended' form. The works are created parallel to each other (how else!) as new cycles and the "Note...” is continuously enlarged by new interiors in new towns, realized in practically the whole of Poland (Kieleckie, Rzeszowskie, Suwalskie voivodships etc.). They evolve and are shown in various formats and variants. I have the "Note..." in 7 or even 9 formats (starting with 13x18 cm to 50x60 cm), on gloss as well as mat paper. The “Note..." exhibitions often took place in two or three places at once However, in the case of "Roads" one and only one single version of the photographic reprints was created. They were framed immediately for display purposes and underwent decisive rigours of the exposition form. In the case of this exhibition, the artist herself takes care of the layout and order of the exhibited works. This says a lot about the weight and meaning which Zosia Rydet attaches to this carefully and consequently put together cycle. Never the less, it is highly surprising that the author only showed the cycle in 3 or 4 places. The inauguration of "Eternity...” takes place in the GN Gallery in Gdansk in 1980. The cycle is next exhibited in the Poznan gallery "Od Nowa" in 1981. The exhibition, limited to "Eternity..." itself, is not exhibited until a few years later in 1987 in the Gallery of Elementary Photography in Ladek Zdroj. In the same year as part of the open-air photography workshops, there is only one more exhibition, at the Gallery of Photography in Suwalki. This does not mean however that the "Eternity..." cycle is not shown in the country or abroad. In other cases, "Eternity..." is always shown in various configurations and in the company of old and new cycles. In total there were a few dozen more exhibitions. We joked with Zosia, that when talking about "Eternity..." one can put the mark of immortality over the works. The artist - and I know this from talking with her - was very unhappy about the lack of response and the silence from critics with regards to her "Roads..." exhibition. If there were reviews then they were very  perfunctionary. They did not notice the core of the idea, the bravery in undertaking the theme and the innovativeness of the form. Most importantly they did not mention the religious message, which was the most important accent of the exhibition. I understood her bitterness. It was a very personal exhibition and she treated it as a kind of intimate confession. She touched problems of old age 'the end of the road' and implicitly also her own death.
The road to us, who are unrelentingly shifting from one place to the next, trying to walk this trail in some realistic way, is a road which speaks to its users primarily in specifics, in time and space parameters. In everyday life, however, in  commonly used (not to say colloquial) language, we use the word ROAD much more often than we realize. We very willingly use many metaphors and symbolic comparisons, or even poetic phrases: 'we have come a long way,' 'the road has been twisted,' 'treading one's own path' etc. There are also sayings, which it seems, clearly inspired and motivated Zosia Rydet into action. In the past, mainly in the country, where houses had thresholds, we bid goodbye to those close to us who were leaving on longer or shorter journeys by saying "may the cross lead you on your way." The sign of the cross was also made in the air. Today, it is quite common that, in a dramatic context, someone will enigmatically say 'the end of the road' so as not to talk about the imminent nature or the fact of a person's death. I do not want to add additional confusion to the concept of a 'journey when there is already a wide range of metaphors available. It does never the less need a 'road.' Of course this last term will be treated differently by an agnostic and differently by someone who is a strong believer. The metaphor of this saying will be understood and seen differently by a young person and differently by someone old. It will be especially sharply and so personally taken by a person who has 'one foot in the grave.' It is obvious that Zosia Rydet treated these literary terms, so rooted in our everyday language, very seriously and thus in an especially creative manner. The artist does not hide the perspective of her imminent old age and finally unavoidable death. This shows immense bravery but it also takes artistry to use one's experiences and to bravely talk about 'the end of the road' at her age. The vision of 'a cross for the road' in the form of a photographic composition of a cross made from crosses significantly raises the expressive power of the exhibition. I cannot avoid the feeling that the artist created "Eternity..." to show, in one exhibition, the sum of all the accumulated emotions and thoughts encompassed in one ideal: the physical and metaphysical road together. "Eternity of Long Roads” is a work in which Zofia Rydet refers to a vision of human life, whose metaphor is a journey. A journey which is more mystical than real. The journey is taken via a huge and from the start unknown road. The 'beginning' is known, the moment of birth, or conception and the 'end' is also known – unavoidable in the nearer or further future -  death. "The 'human road,' understood in this manner, is brimming with provisions. All the problems of the "Eternity of Long Roads” are figurative as well as - and primarily – in a sense directly insinuated and in a sense through description.”

"These types of verbal language semantic limitations have nothing to do with images. Thus, photographic quotations from the panorama of the endless amounts of real roads give the recipient only a feeling that the possible road combinations of human existence are infinite. This trivial and simple truth sounds all the more credible, as it remains in complete accord with feelings common for every contemporary Ulysses, in which each of us can identify something familiar in our everyday lives, even if it is just in the sense of the journey of the lonely mind...”(**)
It could have happened that the most important critics and reviewers of the art of photography, did not see the "Eternity..." exhibition at the beginning of the eighties. Gdansk and Poznan did not have an important photographic milieu at the end of the seventies, as its the case now. At that time they were at the periphery of photographic art. These places were visited more rarely. This determined the way in which the work was received. Even Jerzy Busza, in his introduction to the GN Gallery, does not hide the fact that he did not see the whole of the exposition. This is reflected in the text as 'the author informed me.' (!) One cannot blame the critic who was full of good will, because the production and editing of the catalogue in the PPR (Polish People's Republic)only lasted for a few weeks. When looking at a few photos one could not create an opinion about the whole of the exhibition and see the depth of the idea behind it. When looking at the "Eternity..." exhibition as a separate exposition it has a completely different resonance and a stronger effect. The message is more readable, replete with the artist's act of faith. "Roads..." have a significantly weaker reception when they are put together with other works and collections by Zofia Rydet, and more so, when they are viewed many years after the exhibition was created.  Empty "Roads...” emanate with an unusual loneliness and tearing silence. Zosia Rydet shows, in a certain sense, the negation of the function of these trails. But this is where the people's journey is to take place. The human being has to talk, drive, to meet with people. It is because of this that Zofia Rydet is finally on this road – never parted from her camera of course. Pope John Paul II said: "to walk ahead is to be conscious of the goal.” The artist must 'walk down many roads' to get to know the models for her "Sociological Note,” and to reach the next household, or the next dweller.  The roads are empty and they must in this (her own) message be uninhabited. This is obvious. These people – the future heroes of the photographs – are waiting thus, in their dwellings for Ms Zofia Rydet. The more loneliness and estrangement and darkness achieved through photographic technique is used in the "Roads...” the more warmth, psychological depth in portraits, truth about a person and their home – shelter, it has. "Roads...” and the "Note...” are two sides of the medallion. Important supplements to each other. In the "Sociological Note” there is usually an act of proudness, a show of the force of life and so happiness. The "Eternity of Long Roads” is a definition of uncertainty, confusion and sadness. In one cycle darkness, in the other light. The question could be posed whether one has the right to compare these two cycles. So here, please look at the dates on which these works were created. The first exhibition of the "Sociological Note” takes place in 1978 (the artist continues to work on it until 1990). "Eternity...” was exhibited in 1980. One can see, by the sheer volume of the work, that it required a long time and the necessitude to wonder in many areas of our country. This is the artist's huge journey. After "Roads...,” it is obvious that this could not be done in a few days or even a few months. It is an evident selection of photographs taken during a few years. It is a large entwined web of quests during a journey. Alternately a trail or track is taken and subsequent meetings with a person and with the interior of their home follow. Then once again the road and once again a home needed for the "Note...” etc. The "Eternity of Long Roads” is also the eternity of the "Note...” made using the help of people close to her heart.  I belong to a small group of those who can touch the accumulated artistic cache of the artist. This came about due to trust and friendship with the caretakers of the national treasure which is Zofia Rydet's legacy. I had the opportunity to see most of the finished photographs and positives from her cache. Most importantly (for a photographer this is a most wholesome bite) I had the opportunity to see the negatives. The truth of these negatives is as I suspected – it confirms my point. After all, I took photographs for many years. The negatives register alternately notes from wonderings, dwellings, the people inside, portraits of the 'ordinary person.' Then once again there are photos taken outside: trees,  fences, roads, signs, interiors once again and the people who will create the future "Sociological Note." Details from the inside of a room and further on photographs. taken outside once more, trees, fences, roads, signs...a journey with a wide variety of registered motives. Let us say it, loud and clear; "Eternity..." is the most powerful and most important manifestation of the Polish artist's Catholic faith within the photographic movement, which took place in the eighties. In a very well thought through display there are not only photographs of roads. Photographs of road signs are also important and quite difficult to decipher. This motive could be understood to a certain degree but the roads are surrounded by specific signs, or maybe 'road signs' which are chapels and roadside crosses. The signs by the road are mostly dilapidated and rusty and usually covered by road users with some cloth or other. It is not known therefore if they command or forbid. They are made using a 'pseudo-solarisation' technique  so that their message is further removed from reality. The photographs of crosses speak with a purity of image. Zosia talks about them: "and I looked for various ones, just like these...on the road here, that would tell me something. Some lost shoe [for example] which told me something. These were two years...two years work of fundamentally unfinished roads. And then there were those...which were difficult for me, because I did not know how to...show those sings. Because it is not enough that there are roads of life, but each of us has different types of signs and this is religion and certain old habits, or even some handed down remnant habits from family...which direct our lives...I wanted to do these roads, these signs, because they were, on the one hand readable and at the same time there was something...mysterious. There is a sign, but no-one knows really what sign, what is this sign, where is this life going. I, in my eternity of roads, found out that, it is toward death...and when this death comes about, trees pass by and you enter this non-existence. And suddenly there appears, between these trees, a tiny bright light. This bright light starts getting bigger and at the very end is Jesus' head. This is how it should be, if one believes in something. I think that only faith helps a person to not decline completely. It is she that is greatly needed in the hardest moments. I think that one talks about this only when one is very near the end of one's life. Because I am already at the end of my life it is very difficult to tell onother person, what it is like when this life ends...how short this life is." (***)

* "Zofia Rydet About Her Art." pub. Gliwice Museum 1993.

** Jerzy Busza – exhibition catalogue introduction "Eternity of Long Roads” GN Gallery, Gdansk 1980
*** Film sound byte from "Eternity of Long Roads. Zofia Rydet A.D.1989 Espied and Overheard,” directed by A. Różycki

 

"Art Photography of the Inter-War Period"

Zofia Chometowska, Anatol Antoni Wecławski and Works from His Collection by: Jan Bułhak, Marian Dederko, Boleslaw Gardulski, Klemens Skladanek

The problem of art photography, discussed in recent years, talks about the polemic of the interwar period during the 1920s, when Polish critics and photographers fought fervently for photography to have equal rights with other traditional arts. In modern times, when it is common for different types of art to be mixed together, (strangely) the argument is still a valid one. This is probably due to the indistinct banner of "art photography" under which it stands and, which in the space of some 200 years, has been defined in a particularly diverse manner. The exhibition at this year's VI WFFA tries to unravel certain issues within interwar Polish artistic photography. Two private collections, which were inherited by their owners or are in the possession of those close to the distinguished representatives of Warsaw's and Poland's photographic circles, will be shown. Here one will find selected photographs which form part of the rich legacy left by Anatol Antoni Weclawski, made available together with a photographic collection by his friends (Marian Dederko, Klemens Skladanek, Bolesław Gadulski and Jan Bułhak), by his daughter, Hanna Weclawska, as well as motives from their family region of Polesie or the “Polish Market” by Zofia Chometowska, which has been carefully looked after by Emilia Borecka. The work of both authors, which reached the highs of artistic photography, is presented  in the widest possible spectrum. Both travel the road from amateurism to professionalism. They lose interest in photography as means of expressing personal feeling and emotion, altogether after the Second World War. After the war, Weclawski become devoted to didactic study. He taught in a Public School and Photochemical High School in Warsaw. Chometowska emigrated to Argentina. When leaving Poland she also left photography behind. The battle to treat photography as an equal art started at the turn of the XIX century, by artists and critics, and successfully continued after World War One. Artistic photography, in a pictorial sense - as a recording of an individual temperament and feeling - was supposed to be the fulfilment of postulates set down by Robert Demachy or  Robert de la Sizeranne who called for a “surfeit of the technical process with manifestations of thoughts and feeling,” as well as the capturing of the photographic motive in its “aesthetic moment.” Characteristic effects of the impressionist unfocused contour, artistic play of light with shadow - thanks to the use of classic techniques as well as a manual processing of the positive - allowed for “command over the whole process of creation,” and to the achievement of unique images which bring the photograph close to painting or graphics. They also managed to move away from accusations that it (pictorial photography) is the result of an impersonal, mechanical recording process. In subsequent years, due to the development of photographic technique, similar effects will be gained by the soft lens the use of which, together with the bromide technique, will start to push out classic techniques. Polish pictorialism and art photography only triumphed after the First World War. An increased movement in exhibitions and photography can be observed from around 1925. There was also an apparent rush to unify by those “who, motivated by a joint love, feel the insurmountable need to exchange the thoughts behind and results of their work.” Warsaw's, Vilnius', Lvov's, Poznan's, Cracow's or Krzemieniec's photographic associations brought together representatives from various professions, who came mostly from the upper-classes and who tried to go beyond the limits set by their occupations as well as the tight bounds of “craftsmanship or academic thought.” They create records, through the photographic medium, which are on the one hand spontaneous and sincere and on the other, the result of a sublime interpretation of reality filtered by personal experiences and temperament.
Collective and individual exhibitions of a local and national character were organized regularly. From 1927 they entered onto the international photographic, artistic and pictorial and photo-art scene. This turned into native photography at the end of the 1930s. Activities to popularize Polish photography abroad were also undertaken. Polish photographers took part in the largest photography events in the world held in London, Paris, Los Angeles, Brussels, Amsterdam, Canada, Japan and Germany. The most important photographic periodicals published articles on and the work of Polish artists. The photographic circle increased its skills and knowledge by taking part in courses, meetings, lectures and exhibitions as well as by dipping into and co-creating regularly published periodicals dedicated to photography. It also remained in close contact with the main trend setters of the international photographic scene. Many important texts written by renowned critics and theorists (especially representatives of the Photo Club de Paris, among them: Robert de la Sizeranne, Constant Puyo, Robert Demachy or M. C. de Santeul) were translated and published in Polish photography literature. Despite the dispersal of the circle into localized units in different Polish cities, it undertook joint ventures to popularize pictorial art. Apart from Vilnius with Jan Bulhak, Lvov with Henryk Mikolasch or the “Poznan Three Leaf”: Tadeusz Wański, Tadeusz Cyprian and Bolesław Gardulski, the movement was headed by Warsaw, where “the influences of regional groups are criss-crossed and concentrated (…) it is the centre, which contains a certain number of individuals who are not only taking their own road, but who are using their own methods of work that is especially positive. These include Dederko, Neuman, Dobrzanski and others. Here (...) one can also find the main organizational hub of all the Polish photographic associations.”.
Anatol Antoni Wecławski was also responsible for the co-creation of the Warsaw photographic clique from the end of the 1920s. He began to develop his artistic talent from 1925 following courses taken with the Polish Association of Photography Lovers.
His work gained critical acclaim in Polish and foreign exhibitions. It was described as standing out from the rest of Polish photography. In 1929 photography critic, T. Cyprian, described "Entry onto the Viaduct" as one of the most accurate Polish images: "The stairs, coming out from the darkness, accentuated by flashes of light on the banisters, secretive buildings in its depths, everything is framed by the arch in the foreground and here is the whole which gives a strong and unified sensation”. This style, most loved by nocturnes, was coined as 'photographic impressionism.' "Reflexes" or "Stone Steps at Night” are a testament to the artist's extraordinary talent – a talent for noticing and extracting "the real beauty from the most lacking motive". The current exhibition shows motives that were popular in Weclawski's work: typical street scenes, children's street games, characteristic types of people – street vendors, elderly women or representatives of various ethnic groups. These are well chosen, softly treated artistic portraits or nocturnes which are most recognisable for the author. His work, apart from its individual characteristics which are seen mostly through the choice of theme, treatment of the motive, modelling of light and shadow or the love for nocturnes, is marked by characteristics typical of Polish pictorial photography for that period. The international press often wrote about the poetic, romantic nature of the works and their ability to set the mood and to uncover aesthetic symptoms in the greyness of every day life. All this took place at the end of the 1930s, in the hour when domestic photography was being propagated. "Polish photography has a national and racial imprint, which is marked by a specific power. The themes which attract the attention of the Polish photographer, are chosen on the basis of those relations and sympathies. The Pole underlined his appreciation of the features characteristic for his surroundings: for large spaces whose distant character was enchanting, for the faint or overexposed atmosphere of its plains, from dark forests, to the reflection of the soul in a human gaze, to the poetry and effort of work (...).The dream is dominant [in them]. This is illustrated by their specific graphics: based on the avoidance of strong counters between light and shadow and an appreciation of the grey and subdued blotch, the fogginess of the surroundings in which the secrecy and fantasies of a Northerner do not speak as much as allow themselves to be guessed at.” Anatol Antoni Wecławski's biography is indicative of his participation in many exhibitions and  competitions. It is also full of numerous distinctions and awards (among others in Poland: V International Meeting of Artistic Photography in Warsaw, 1931; National Meeting in Lvov, 1932; I Exhibition of Artistic Photography on the YMCA Photo-Club in Cracow, 1932; I place in the I Pomeranian Exhibition of the Art of Photography in Grudziadz, 1933; II Exhibition of Polish Photography in Zacheta in Warsaw, 1933; II place in the XII Polish Photography Review Competition,1933; Culture Minister award in a competition entitled “The Beauty of Warsaw”, 1937 abroad: honorary diploma at the VI International Salon in Saragossa in Spain,1930 II International Exhibition in Vienna, 1932; diploma at the II International Meeting in Sopron in Hungary, 1932; bronze medal and diploma at the International Meeting in Koszyce, 1933; II International Meeting in Prague, 1933). He is was also awarded for propagating Polish photography abroad (e.g. Bronze Service Cross in 1939). In the 1930's he belonged to the elite group of Polish photographers which concentrated on Jan Bulhak, the most active propagator of Polish photography at home and abroad, who honoured Weclawski by making him a member of the Polish Photo-Club. Their long standing cooperation and friendship are apparent from Jan Bulhak's exhibited photographs from the artist's collection, which show Vilnius' alleyways. The mood is set by architectural details, which are full of elasticity, and a beautiful moulding of light with shadow. Other exhibited photographs, which illustrate the close relations between renowned artists, are “the spirit that leads artistic work of the Warsaw scene” by Klemens Skladanek, or by Marian Dederko,  the experimental inventor of the “photonizm” technique, as well as the representative of the “Poznan Three Leaf” Bolesław Gardulski. Photography, in the interwar period of the 1920s, was exploited as a creative art on the widest scale to date. The current of artistic-pictorial photography remained especially strong in Poland. It was propagated by those who wished for an aesthetic reawakening of photography and whose ideal was embedded within painting. In the 1930s new concepts of so called 'pure photography' become clearer. This mode of photography heralded a return of a healthy approach to the technicalities of photography as well as the artistic differentiation of its expression. An example of the skilful bridging of documentary and artistic patterns in photography, which registers everyday life, can be seen in the work of  Zofia Chometowska,  who attributed her success to the use of Leica camera. As opposed to Weclawski, Dederko or Gardulski, she based her work on purely photographic attributes, which at the same time refered to the basic properties of this medium. She came from the upper-class Drucki-Lubecki family and was graced with a huge talent and dynamic temperament. She was among the few female photographers to gain an important position among the representatives of Polish art photography at home and abroad. In the 1930s she was the subject of essays by, among others: Marian Dederko, Tadeusz Cyprian and Janusz Kruk-Zabiełło who, while underlining the esteem which she had already received, wrote that “(...) she has a long way to go and as a real and sincere artist, she will always strive to perfect her technique and to increase the depth of her own artistic expression.” We are presenting a small snippet of her rich portfolio, in which she is revealed as an author of beautiful country scenes and as an excellent portrait photographer. The work is characterized by a sensitivity to the surrounding reality, as well as a brilliant talent for finding rare motives, or presenting that which is an every day occurrence in an unconventional manner. She has much artistic intuition which means that she has a certain ease with which she, while being completely conscious of tradition, builds brave, synthetic and clear compositions that catch the eye due to their theme/motive as well as an artistic treatment. In an autobiography published in the periodical "Leica in Poland,” Zofia Chometowska admits that by taking photographs for many years, she expected that "in photography one can find a way of artistically expressing oneself”. At the beginning she treated the medium as a “toy, which made the compiling of souvenirs in the form of album piles, easier.” From 1927 she consciously photographed with Leica, using the camera to register the artistic note, which expresses "the emotional moment” as an expression of a distinct mood and experience.
With this she asserted that Stanisław Witkiewicz was right when he acknowledged, in 1899, that photography was a means of helping aesthetic culture develop in Polish literature: "It is where the artist presents nature as it is, with all its richness and incidence. That is where all its individuality stands out, with the treatment of those or other motives, and this is not at all disparaging to the art or artist. In this case, his mind opens up to a particular direction, he keeps this in his mind and recreates it with strict attention to detail. The photographic camera acts in the same manner and is wholly dependent on the individuality of its master and perhaps even on the directions which are the norm in art for the given period”. A few dozen years later, Zofia Chometowska will view the moment when (in May 1939) she received a card from her son Witkacy as a personal success. The renowned artist and playwright wrote words of acclaim for her talent, as well as the artistic value found in the photographs, of which her exhibition in the Garlinski Gallery was to convince everyone. The 1930s were a period of triumph for Chometowska. She took part in many exhibitions and received many distinctions and awards in competitions and photographic exhibitions at home and abroad. According to Emilia Borecka, 1932 is was record year: “In January she received a distinction at the 25th exhibition in the Polish Photography Association and in April a distinction at the International Photography exhibition in Warsaw, in August she gained the second prize awarded by the weekly "Swiat” ("The World”), in September she won an award in the annual competition hosted by the periodical "Foto,” in October she received a distinction at the 27th Salon International d’Art Photographique in Paris, in November at the Autumn Exhibition of the Polish Photography Association”. Anatol Weclowski wrote about her creativity in the “Collective P.T.F. Exhibition.” Her saw a bipolarity in her work: "Ms Zofia Chometowska is a new and developing talent, whose direction cannot always be strictly defined. Such images as "Solitude” and the "Lady with a Dog” are neither similar in spirit nor in expression. The first is a romantic motive with a breath of the melancholy of a Summer eve, the second is completely modern, a figure captured with decidedly strewn black blotches.” She is also the author if a few individual exhibitions, held in among others Vilnius, in 1933 (where she exhibited 100 works). A similar exhibition was held in the headquarters of the Polish Photographic Society in 1936, it was entitled “The Polish Market” in 1937. She also co-authored a joint exhibition with Jan Bulhak in 1938. The Garlinski Gellery on Mazowiecka Street organized an individual exhibition of her work in May 1939 for the tenth anniversary of her works. Before the start of World War Two she took part in 37 documented exhibitions at home and abroad (these included exhibitions in Paris, Antwerp, Prague, Munich, Budapest and Athens). On the eve of the Second World War she received an award at the International Photographic Exhibition in Tokyo. Zofia Chometowska held a high position in amateur photographic circles (she was deputy chief executive of the PTF, member of the Warsaw Photo-Club, created in 1938/1939, other members included: J. Bulhak, T. Cyprian, M. Dederki, K. Skladanek) as well as in professional ones (she worked as a photographer at the Ministry of Communication since 1936, held the position of artistic director of the periodical “Woman at Work” from 1938, she also run an artistic photography studio). Upon leaving Poland, after the war, she lost interest in photography as a medium of artistic expression. The exhibition of Polish art photography of the interwar period, based on the work of selected artists and the works found in two Warsaw collections, identifies only a few themes connected with the problems linked with its functioning, definition and the understanding of it. It also shows enormous potential and a strong position, to quote Antoni  Wieczorek; one that does “not tail behind other nations,” on the global photographic map of that period.

It would be difficult to speak about the post-war, or the current character of this genre, if it was not for the huge contribution by individuals such as Zofia Chometowska or Anatol Antoni Weclawski and his friends, into the history of Polish photography.

Magdalena Durda-Dmitruk

cooperation: Media Art Gallery