On July 25, 2008, after a long and hard battle with cancer, Ireneusz "Eryk" Zjeżdżałka passed away, he was less than 36 years old. He was the editor-in-chief of "Kwartalnik Fotografia," as well as a promising and already established photographer, curator, critic, animator and lecturer on photography.
Many young adepts and lovers of photography do not know Erik's work at all, or know it poorly, so on the occasion of the round anniversary of the passing of my friend and co-worker, I decided to remember this figure. His merits for "KF" and Kropka Śliwczyński Publishing House, where Ireneusz worked, are enormous and should be remembered. In this article I show only fragments of his most important photographic series, while for biographical information and information and interpretation of his work, I refer you to the monographs Ireneusz Zjeżdżałka, Photographs edited by Maciej Szymanowicz.
Erik was primarily known for his black-and-white photographs, but in 2005-2006 he tried his hand at color as well. He replaced the black and white negative with color slides. He didn't manage to exhibit them anywhere; we saw them in their full glory only at a posthumous retrospective at CK Zamek in 2009. Here is that series:
In addition to Erik's monograph (only as a pdf), you can also buy a collection of 32 vintage prints of the series in our Store. No atelier, which the photographer took in 2001 on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the strike of the children of Wrzesnia, which was part of a private celebration of the anniversary, independent of the authorities, who arranged academies and other celebrations. No atelier are photos of the children of Wrzesnia at that time, who in 2001 were about as old as those known from history, and in addition, the scenery (the environment in which they lived every day) was invented by the kids themselves.
Ireneusz "Eryk" Zjeżdżałka was born, lived and worked in Września, rested in the municipal cemetery in Września, and the photo of Eryk's grave begins the first photograph of the Września Collection, a series by Bogdan Konopka.
On the 10th anniversary of his death in 2018, I recorded the following A documentary film entitled. Erik, in which he is remembered by people who knew him, with whom he was friends or worked, as well as his immediate family.
1 Komentarz
Waldemar Sliwczynski
And what memories do you have of Erik? Or, if you haven't met him personally, but have only come across his work - what did you think of it, do you think?