Ministry of Transport
In 1936 Mieczysław Orłowicz – head of the Department of Tourism in the Ministry of Transport announced an anonymous contest granting a photographer’s position. The goal was to capture cities and small towns across Poland for propaganda purposes. The winning photographs were to be used as ornaments in railway compartments as well as illustrations in various publications of the Ministry of Transport.
Using a ”Crow” alias, Zofia Chomętowska sent a portfolio of hers, which was most liked among all the entries. Chomętowska often joked about Orłowicz discovering her identity, where he would exclaim in disbelief ”What, a woman! You can’t possibly manage this type of work!”. Yet, the female photographer had managed and performed this job superbly, creating a whole series of photographs. Nearly fifteen hundred of them were redeveloped by the Foundation. All of the positives identified as the Ministry of Transport Project were scanned and archived within the Digital Heritage program financed by the National Audiovisual Institute.
