It is said that a photographer should always have a camera with him, but in reality is this always the case, has it always been so? Is it only the professional photojournalist on his shoulder who inseparably carries a bag in which he carries a tool for capturing images of life? A full-time photographer can often enter where an ordinary Kowalski can no longer, but the inverse also works similarly. Lost in his work, in public events, the photojournalist no longer has time to stop where the amateur with a camera in his hand stands and takes an unhurried look at life. Whoever we are, the most important thing is to press the shutter button in the moment, to capture the world before our eyes and then share it with others.
Aleksander Matczynski has, it seems, always been aware of the need to share what he sees, as evidenced not only by his latest exhibition at the Gallery of the Municipal Cultural Center in Wągrowiec, which took place in March 2022, but also by a number of exhibitions over the years in Poland and abroad. And it is very important to become a "documentarian of the everyday", to share his view with people. In this way we share not only ourselves, but also the world in which other people, including the recipients of the photos, coexist. Some of Matczyński's works presented here, among others, have just appeared at an exhibition in Wągrowiec called - The Last Decade.
It doesn't matter whether one works professionally or amateurishly, it's good to have a camera with you at all times, and above all one should take pictures. Nothing revealing was said in this sentence, and how indefinitely true it is as that every photograph is a document, a picture of a given reality, and therefore inherently something valuable even to a very different audience. If we add to this a little talent, skill, a nose for appearing in the right situations, then we get something more than a document, and the division between professional and amateur photojournalist, who, while working or out of passion, appeared in a given place and time, and did what he should do, disappears absolutely! Matczynski was and is such a photographer.
Very many professional and amateur photographers have huge never-published archives. There are probably still many names waiting to come out of obscurity, names that have slipped our minds somewhere or are totally unknown to anyone. This was the case, for example, with a very popular American nanny - Vivian Maier, whose photographs today delight critics and legends of street photography like Joel Meyerowitz, and during her lifetime the works of this talented photographer did not leave her room. That's why you need to share your work now, no matter who you are! Looking at Matczynski's photographs, I become even more convinced that photographers are often too critical of themselves and allow their photos to be consumed by the darkness of oblivion that thickens in the drawers and closets of their homes.
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Lech Szymanowski wrote the following about Matczynski's photos:
The exhibition of Alexander Matczynski's photographs is titled "The Last Decade." These are reporter photos from 1979-1989, a photographic documentation of the fall of the People's Republic of Poland. The exhibition consists of several series documenting: the first pilgrimage of John Paul II in Gniezno, an Orthodox church fair in Podlasie, a weekday at a market in Gniezno, a Polish wedding, a speedway competition and an amusement park "from behind the scenes," the element of speedway sports, and finally one of the countless accidents on Polish roads. The reality, daily life and festivities of the last decade of communist Poland.
The photos in the series "Everyday" were taken while Aleksander Matczyński was working at the Museum of the Origins of the Polish State in Gniezno. Every day, while going out to document the excavations conducted by the Museum, he passed through the Gniezno marketplace on Warszawska Street. Both traders and buyers quickly became accustomed to the photographer's daily presence in this place, which resulted in extremely rich and authentic material documenting the daily life of the market, only a small part of which was included in our exhibition.
Alexander Matchinski perfectly senses and records the mood of major religious events. He is excellent at conveying the religious elation, tension, but also the weariness of the participants in the events, as in the case of the documentation of the first papal visit of John Paul II to Gniezno in June 1979, or the Orthodox fair of August 1980 (the "Orthodox" series).
The accident really happened, near Swarzedz, and the author participated in it, he was one of the victims. Nevertheless, he took a camera out of his bag and recorded the dramatic event. In his photographs, Alexander Matczynski shows viewers the course of various events, without being indifferent to the emotions. The author has chosen for the presentation the photographs that are the strongest in form and clearly depict the subjects. Each of these photographs has meaning, each is important, because it is part of a set. This is a subjective story of a photojournalist about life in Poland in the last years of the communist era.
Matczynski was close to the people, whether during events like the visit of John Paul II or during his daily commute. He had his camera with him and photographed according to the best thought of a street photographer - You want a good picture, get close enough! In the photographs of the native of Poznań, we can today admire worlds completely unknown to many, but also the artistry of reportage photography. Let Matczyński's photographs remind us that the "everyday day" of each of us is worth photographing and that to show it to others, take it out of the drawer!
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Alexander Matczynski born. 20.02.1956 in Poznań. He has been involved in photography since 1974.
1975 - first publications in "Jazz Forum" and "Na Przełaj" and the exhibition "Jazz" in the club "Od nowa" in Poznan
1977 - outdoor exhibition "Speedway," together with Mariusz Stachowiak, in Gniezno
1977 - First place at the Provincial Review of Amateur Photography in Poznań
1977-1980 - work as a photographer in the Museum of the Origins of the Polish State in Gniezno
1979 - review individual exhibition in "Galeria Nowa" - DESA art salon
1980 - becomes a member of the Poznan Photographic Society
1980 - awarded a bronze medal at the PTF Autumn Salon for the series "Orthodox Christians"
1980-1983 - participation in group exhibitions in Poland and France
Since 1981, he has worked as a freelance commercial photographer, running photographic establishments in Janowiec, and from 2005-2021 in Wągrowiec, among other places.
