We warmly invite you to the opening of the exhibition of photographs by Antoni Zdrodowski, a photographer from Białystok. The private view will take place on the 3rd of April (Thursday) at 6.30 pm at the Archaeology of Photography Foundation’s gallery. The exhibition has been curated by Grzegorz Dąbrowski. Feel welcome to take this opportunity to also visit our neighbours – Starter Gallery and Stacja Muranów.
The new season at the Archaeology of Photography Foundation opens with an exhibition of photographs by Antoni Zdrodowski – a Białystok-based documentary photographer, who spent many years devising a complex portrait of the post-war society in Poland. In his photographs, we see the everyday life in communist Poland and ordinary city life: market stalls, milk bars, parades, academies, but also car races, medicine classes, or studio portraits.
The exhibition is a part of the Fototeka cycle, which aims to present extraordinary archival discoveries from outside of Warsaw: unknown artists, documentary photographers, and artisans, whose works have been neglected for years.
After the private view at our gallery, we invite you to also take part in events organized by our neighbours: Mikołaj Moskal’s exhibition “Wspomniana figura” at Starter Gallery (opening at 7pm) and a discussion around Jan Gondowicz’s book “Duch opowieści” (starting at 7.30 pm).
See you at Andersa 13.
Antoni Zdrodowski, Photographs
Antoni Zdrodowski’s negatives have been lying in the basement of the artist’s family’s house for over 50 years. They amount to several thousand frames. The impressively diverse collection is a real treasure – this wonderful portrait of a city and its inhabitants is full of sociological relishes and, at the same time, truly universal. These pictures can guarantee to take the viewer several decades back in time. Zdrodowski’s photographs exceed the definition of a photo reportage and represent more than just a photographic document. They form a story of great artistic, emotional, and historical values, however without the feeling of nostalgia. The misery and oppression of communism, recovering after the war, reconstruction, militia, dissidents, and ordinary residents.
The archive arrived to Gazeta Wyborcza over a year ago. It has been published at bialystok.gazeta.pl – this local branch also continued to gather information about the author and his subjects. An exhibition „Antoni Zdrodowski. Photographs” took place at the Sleńdziński Gallery in Białystok in June 2013.
Grzegorz Dąbrowski
Antoni Zdrodowski was born on the 13th of June, 1924. He was involved in documentary, science, and journalistic photography. He worked at the National Film School in Łódź, Medical University of Białystok, and was an active promoter of amateur photography in Białystok. He died on the 27th of December, 2008.
Exhibition open: 4th-30th April
Archaeology of Photography Foundation’s gallery
13 Andersa St, Warsa
opening times:
Mon., Thu., Fri.: 10.00-17.00
Tue., Wed.: 11.00-19.00
