vernissage, 26.10.2023 / exhibition open until 10.12.2023 / Archeology of Photography Foundation / 20 Chlodna St., Warsaw.
DaRago note was a major figure in Polish reportage and press photography for more than four decades. She realized hundreds of subjectóin and took thousands of photographs. She headed a team of photojournalists at the weekly newspaper Perspectives. She also created portraits and advertising sessions. Exhibition Illusion factory shows just a few installments of Rago's rich and varied oeuvre. It reminds us of her figure, hitherto unjustly overlooked in narratives about Polish photography of the 1960s and 1970s. The exhibition opens on October 26 at the Archeology of Photography Foundation at 20 Chlodna Street in Warsaw.
Photographer and photojournalist Danuta Rago co-created Polish photojournalism and press photography for more than four decades. She worked for "World" and "Perspektywa," the leading socio-cultural weeklies, of which photography was a constant and important element. In 1977, Rago became head of the "Perspektywa" team of photojournalists, which included Zbyszko Siemaszko and Tomasz Sikora. As a member of the Union of Polish Artists Photographers and long-time president of the Warsaw district, she led the creation of many publications and exhibitions.
The Archeology of Photography Foundation has taken custody of Danuta Rago's archive in 2020. Along with research, digitization and online accessibility, the exhibition aims to recall Rago's unjustly forgotten work, and to place her once again at the forefront of Polish photography, not just press photography. Illusion factory, the first solo presentation of Rago's photography in nearly a quarter-century, shows different fields of her work in surprising juxtapositions. The exhibition is curated by Dr. Veronika Kobylinska.
Factories and illusions
The exhibition juxtaposes black-and-white reportage photographs with colorful advertising photos. The shots of production halls and communist progress, though documentary, bring out the stark emptiness of factory spaces or the absurdity of propaganda slogans. The photos thus seem to contrast with the top-down imposed vision of a new, better, socialist People's Poland.
Color utility photography - today confidently called fashion or product photography - is seemingly a very different story. Vibrant colors, young, attractive people, desirable goods, the promise of luxury and fulfillment. However, the products photographed by Rago on behalf of large companies - hair dryers, cars or safety glasses - could not ultimately improve the harsh reality of the 1970s. This delusion is still valid half a century later, in a completely different system.
Rago looked at the capitalist world during a trip to New York. The images taken then are street photography - unarranged, spontaneous shots of strangers in public spaces. They are not used for propaganda and advertising, but to show the social inequality, chaos and inefficiency of the American Dream.
- The various facets of Rago's work are united by his ability to look beneath the surface of the image of reality, to see the cracks in the economic and social systems that surround us, says curator Veronika Kobylinska. - The idea of the exhibition Illusion Factory. Photographs by Danuta Rago was to recall this extremely important figure. I hope, however, that through the selection and juxtaposition of photographs, we have succeeded in posing a question that is still relevant: what is the "factory of illusions" in which we function today? - adds Kobylinska.
Objects on display
The exhibition could be created thanks to the research and digitization work of the team of the Archeology of Photography Foundation. The photos presented in the exhibition are mainly contemporary prints, but in addition to them you will be able to see vintage prints, that is, period prints, or more precisely, photographs that Rago submitted to the Art Commission of the Union of Polish Artists Photographers in 1976. She then applied for the third time to this important organization - successfully. Rago's way of working will allow us to approach archival issues of the weekly magazine "Perspektywy", as well as contact sheets and insights. A styptic is a print of a strip of negative directly on a sheet of paper, and an insight is a working print of an illustrative nature. Rago kept them together, and you can read the photographer's handwritten descriptions on them, including indicating how she planned to crop a particular photo. Among the objects was also a publication Life itself. An album of reportage photography from 1971, which today we would call a photobook. Rago is the only woman among 40 photojournalists working with the state-run Central Photographic Agency.
Danuta Rago (1934-2000) - became involved with photography in 1952, right after high school graduation. At that time she began working professionally at the Photographic Studio of the Board of Protection and Conservation of Monuments at the Ministry of Culture and Art. From 1956 she worked as a photojournalist in important press titles, such as "Walka Młodych," "Sztandar Młodych," "Agencja Robotnicza," and later in "Świat" and "Perspektywy."
She worked in the editorial office of the last title throughout its existence, i.e. for more than 30 years, and headed the photojournalism department since 1977. A member of the Union of Polish Artists Photographers, she was involved in many other environmental associations. After retiring, she served as president of the Warsaw District (1990-1995) and then as treasurer (1995-2000). She published four photo albums and had six solo exhibitions. She was awarded the Golden Cross of Merit (1979) and the Distinguished Cultural Service Award (1989).
Archeology of Photography Foundation is engaged in the development and preservation of the archives of Polish male and female photographers. It was established in 2008 and currently takes care of the archives of more than a dozen male and female artists, which undergo comprehensive work: organizing, digitizing and making them available online. More than 95,000 records are available free of charge online at the Virtual Museum of Photography. FAF runs a gallery, research projects, organizes exhibitions, workshops and lectures, and publishes albums and books on the theory and history of photography.
Exhibition opening Illusion Factory. Photographs by Danuta Rago will be held on Thursday, 26 October, at 6 pm at the Archeology of Photography Foundation at 20 Chlodna Street in Warsaw.
A curatorial tour translated into Polish Sign Language will be held on November 21 at 6 pm.
The exhibition will last until December 10, 2023. Opening hours are Tuesdays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Free admission.