People's Poland / Polska Ludowa
www.polskaludowa.net
I have known all these photographs ever since I was a little kid. I will never forget the amazing atmosphere during slideshows. Dust was flying around in the air and the projector was radiating pleasant heat. Only joyful moments have been captured in pictures: parents going on vacation with a heavily overloaded Fiat 126, my elder sister playing with my grandparents when she was little and landscapes.
I have known all these photographs ever since I was a little kid. I will never forget the amazing atmosphere during slideshows. Dust was flying around in the air and the projector was radiating pleasant heat. Only joyful moments have been captured in pictures: parents going on vacation with a heavily overloaded Fiat 126, my elder sister playing with my grandparents when she was little and landscapes.
After many years I went through the old photos my parents had collected and I was inspired by the scenes, situations, atmosphere and humour. I was also thrilled with the quality of analogue photography that from a technical point of view outclasses photos taken with commonly used digital cameras.
This is how my project “People’s Poland” was born. I started to post the most remarkable photos taken before 1989 to my blog. That year was a historical and symbolic turning point, because my parents ceased to take slide pictures and began to capture family events using a compact camera and colour films or a video camera.
Based on the comments posted to my blog I can tell that the photographs have proved to have universal appeal as they are bringing joy and memories. I think that it is not about camera setup, lens diameter or perfect light, but about the closeness and warmth among my family members captured in pictures. Thanks to the photograph’s presence and perseverance we have now access to a huge pool of photographs documenting hard times without addressing political issues.
