02 January 2012

Street photography here and now. Still there!

Światosław Wojtkowiak, Somaliland, 2005 / courtesy of the artist

Street Photography Now. Street photography here and now. 

Street photography is in fact a report. It can also be a memorial snapshot, or one taken straight from a family album. It does not need to be taken in the city, in the street – it can as well be shot in the depth of a forest, or in the middle of nowhere. Nowadays this photographic trend – certainly documentary and totally true, although sometimes it’s hard to believe – is a strong attraction for the photographers from all over the world. 

The exhibition shall present works of such well-known authors as: Christophe Agou, Narelle Autio, Maciej Dakowicz, David Gibson, Bruce Gilden, Thierry Girard, Andrew Z. Glickman, Siegfried Hansen, Nils Jorgensen, Martin Kollar, Jesse Marlow, Jeff Mermelstein, Joel Meyerowitz, Mimi Mollica, Trent Parke, Martin Parr, Gus Powell, Mark Alor Powell, Paul Russell, Otto Snoek, Matt Stuart, Ying Tang, Nick Turpin, Alex Webb.

The exhibition of more than 30 world’s best street photographers – selected by Sophie Howarth and Stephen McLaren, authors of an album on street photography – shall be accompanied by a presentation of works by Polish photographers. 

„Street Photography Here and Now”. We do not wish to claim that “street” was invented by us, nor that it is our national trend. We just notice that plenty of people take photographs in the street. Paradoxically, not all of them are called street photos. 

Capturing amusing moments of the daily life, catching people red-handed and at moments of oblivion, pointing out absurdities – this is what street photographers do. The spectators can laugh, can see a haiku-like concise story, but most of all they have the pleasure of looking at scenes which they pass in the streets. Common. Everyday. Unnoticeable when they occur. 

Feel invited to get to know the Polish variety of street photo. Next to foreign photos, taken abroad, we show ours (and not only ours) backyards, streets and alleys – through the eyes of mostly young people, not necessarily professional photographers. Some of them feel they continue in the footsteps of Eliott Erwitt or Robert Doisneau, others claim to be unsullied like Henri Lartigue. Yet others leave their desks at 4:00 PM, when the sun shines its magic, and yield to the rhythm of their cities. 

The exhibition is organized in cooperation with Third Floor Gallery from Cardiff, University of Wales in Newport and with the Thames & Hudson publishing house. 

Authors of Polish-part of the exhibition: Michał Adamski, Piotr Bułas, Kuba Ceran, Rafał Chojnacki, Damian Chrobak, Maciej Dakowicz, Kuba Dargiewicz, Tomasz Desperak, Mariusz Forecki, Magda Galas, Paweł Głogowski, Wojciech Grzędziński, Robert Jaworski, Anna Kłosek, Piotr Koszczyński, Kacper Krajewski, Włodzimierz Krzemiński, Tomasz Kulbowski, Adam Lach, Marek Lapis, Nel Lato, Tomasz Lazar, Jerzy Łapiński, Michał Macioszczyk, Zbigniew Marczewski, Bartosz Mateńko, Michał Mentel, Szymon Michna, Krzysztof Miller, Paweł Olejniczak, Krzysztof Panek, Kacper Pempel, Marcin Płonka, Bart Pogoda, Przemysław Pokrycki, Paweł Piotrowski, Rafał Rafalski, Paweł Repetowski, Sylwester Rozmiarek, Piotr Rygielski, Tomasz Rykaczewski, Katarzyna Sagatowska, Mateusz Sarełło, Rafał Siderski, Michał Skrzypczak, Konrad Smolak, Agnieszka Sym, Szymon Szcześniak, Tomasz Szerszeń, Jacek Szust, Przemysław Wajerowicz, Jan Wajszczuk, Aleksander Wasilewski, Magdalena Wdowicz-Wierzbowska, Tomasz Wiech, Andrzej Wiktor, Artur Alan Willmann, Światek Wojtkowiak, Mateusz Zgliński, Bartek Wrześniowski & Jarek Zuzga.

 Jeff Mermelstein, Untitled,  New York, 1995 /  featured in Street Photography Now, published by Thames & Hudson.
Maciej Dakowicz, Pink Hat, Cardiff, 2006 /  featured in Street Photography Now, published by Thames & Hudson.
 Gus Powell, Putti from the series Lunch Pictures, New York, 1999-2007 /  featured in Street Photography Now, published by Thames & Hudson.

STREET PHOTOGRAPHY NOW – Street Photography Here and Now.
The exhibition continues until January 15, 2012 opening hours: Thursday, Friday 3 - 8 PM  / Saturday, Sunday 12 - 8 PM
Organized by: THE MUSEUM OF PRINTING IN WARSAW - a branch of the Historical Museum of Warsaw and  Fundacja .DOC
Location: „Galeria Muzeum Drukarstwa Warszawskiego w budowie” (Gallery of the Museum of Printing in Warsaw Under Construction), Marszałkowska street no. 3/5, Warsaw 

 Paweł Piotrowski, Munich, 2003 / courtesy of the artist
 Marcin Płonka, London, 2011 / courtesy of the artist

 Tomasz Wiech, Cracow, 2007 / courtesy of the artist
Tomasz Lazar, Niechórz, 2008 / courtesy of the artist


There are workshops with Przemysław Pokrycki (7.01), Mimi Mollica (8.01) and Bruce Gilden (14-15) and some lectures and discussions.
Thanks to Magda Wajda-Kacmajor for translation. Curators of "international" part are: Maciej Dakowicz, Joni Karanka and Bartosz Nowicki: Third Floor Gallery. Curator of Polish part is Joanna Kinowska. Hope to see you here :>