9698694761

Krzysztof Ju

Pleasure, satisfaction, faith...?

We live in the times of photographlc excess and overioad.The culture-forming functlon of photography analysed en globe or, to be morę predse- its latest incarnation in the form of digital photography does not fulfil its strictly artistic role any morę, as it used to be in the 19th or 20th century during the dominance of analogue photography and, what is important, cognitive one in the sense of

it fulfilled sińce the 30s in the USA (Farm Security Admintoratlon) through the French humanistic photo coverage (Henri Cartier-Bresson), which lasted way until the 90s of the 20th century (SegastiSo Salgado). Photography begins to play a prima rily consumptive and entertaining role on social networking sites, in Online newspapers. However, the artistic function still exists, although it is fading, similarly to the entirety of visual arts which lack a message but were also such artists/authorities as for instance Joseph Beuys or

I    prize.The metaphor of life

Szymon Kaczmarczyk sent ten works entitled Snapshotsoflifetor the contest. Each one of them is interesting, which was not easy

the Czech photography or the tradition of pictorialism. The creator feels comfortable in every convention, can employ them efficientlyandarranges them within the presentation by meansofdifferentlyshapednails, which areasimple but effectivemethodof showing the'metaphor of life'- its every stage, from success and happiness to sadness and death with a universal message. In those works, reminiscentof the best works by Grzegorz Przyborek, one can seeanentirespectreof life, indudingkweand the signofdeath. There is lack of dramatic tension, in which each life abunds, however, this stems from certain aesthetic assumptlons madę, which combine with beauty.

II    prize. Skin, or what is biosphere?

Irena Emilewicz sent, inter alia, three works entitled Biosphere, in which, through fragmentariness, proper framing as well as invoking the form of labyrinth, the latest situation of not only man, but potentially of human kind was shown. We are watching the strangest blurring of forms.The body may be other matter, e.g. a plastic. We do not know whether and where the linę between living and dead, real and unreal, or slmulation, exists as in this case we are moving on slippery ground of the photographlc tradition. The photographs are not optlmistic and, in additlon, they slgnal at the problem of the posslbility of changing one's sex, de facto how dangerousin its effectsplayingGod can be, which was shown by PedroAlmod6varin his film 7freSkrn//ń«/n (2011).

III    prize. What is a city?

The impact through a large format became typical in the latest photography, and earlier in graphics in the 1970s. In this case, it madę sense in two prints by Michał Krawiec regarding Opole - a city with German history, but in a new Polish costume. In collage works, one can see a graphlc's, not a photographeris way of thinking, skilfully employing strong colourful spots, nonetheless, our contest is open to this type of explorations. One can associate them with the graphic experiments of Robert Rauschenberg and, in a wider scope, of American pop-art. The vision of the city is half-true and half-imaginary, but above all, purposefully chaotic, supplemented by theauthorissodalcommentaryin the form ofadvertisementsandwritingsplaceddirectlyonto the photos.lt is also a vision, it is not known how consdous, referring to the Dadaist tradition, mainly from Berlin around 1920, less to the constructhrist