The end crowned the work. The Photo Club "Source" presented an exhibition of the first Unstuck Photography competition
The Photo Club "Source" has waited almost two and a half years for this moment. Longer than it took Vasco da Gama's famous expedition, who in the 15th century found his way to India by sailing around Africa, and longer than the Antarctic expedition of Roald Amundsen, who was the first man in history to reach the South Pole. Finally, however, the end crowned the work and the post-competition exhibition of Unstuck Photography "Space" saw the light of day. This long-awaited moment took place on March 4 at the Gallery of Photography "Interferencje" in Olkusz.
Space is the place where thoughts are born....
- Space is a place where events and things can come into existence. Space is the place where dreams and dreams can come true. Space is the place where thoughts are born. Space is a universe where everything conceived, imagined, dreamed or experienced can come into existence," this is how the members of the Photo Club "Source" from Ruda Śląska announced the theme of the group's first ever Unstuck Photography competition in May 2020. None of them imagined at the time that they would have to wait so long to put the "dot over the I" in the first installment of the new chapter of their activity, and that "time" would become the word describing this episode as much as "space".
Ninety-three works (many of them made with a pinhole camera) were submitted to the competition, from among which "after a heated but fruitful discussion" a respectable group of winners was selected in September 2020.
The main prize was awarded to Iwona Germanek for her work "Imaginal Spaces," which jury chairman Krzysztof Jurecki described as "an intriguing image combining the imaginary world with the tradition of geometric abstraction, which is the aesthetics of error." Personal awards from the jurors, meanwhile, went to Grzegorz Sidorowicz (chosen by Krzysztof Jurecki), Jakub Byrczek (chosen by juror Lukasz Cyrus), Marcin Jankowski (chosen by juror Aleksander Orszulik), Agnieszka Zaręba (chosen by juror Bartosz Klosek) and Marcin Bratek (chosen by juror Krzysztof Stryja).
Up to three times a piece. The exhibition can be admired in Olkusz
Everything was already clear, all that remained was to present the prizes to the winners. Preferably during the grand opening of the post-competition exhibition. And that was also the plan. The opening was officially announced for October 24, 2020 in Ustron. Pandemic reality, however, prevented these intentions from coming true. Subsequent lockdowns closed art galleries for months, and the competition organizers were forced to hide the submitted works in a closet. At the time, it still seemed to them that it was only for a few months. However, when the vernissage also failed to materialize in the spring of 2021, it became clear that the thought of an exhibition had to be definitively abandoned, or one had to arm oneself with great reserves of patience, believing that more gracious times would eventually come.
Members of the "Source" chose the latter solution. They did not give up the thought of showing the world the works submitted for their debut competition, and on March 4 of this year, during a ceremonial vernissage, they could congratulate the winners on their interpretation of the theme, and themselves on their perseverance. The 88 photos qualified for the post-competition exhibition of Unstuck Photography "Space" hung in the "Interferencje" Gallery of Photography, located at Olkusz's market square.
The post-competition exhibition of Unstuck Photography "Space" will be on view at the Olkusz gallery until April 13. Those who don't manage to get to it by that date can see all the qualified photos on the blog dedicated to Unstuck Photography, run by Lukasz Cyrus (https://lukaszcyrus.blogspot.com), as well as on the competition blog (https://konkurs-fotografii-odklejonej.blogspot.com/). The awarded works are also presented on the contest website (contest-photography-unstuck.blogspot.com).
The competition and exhibition are organized under the auspices of the ZPAF Silesian District.
The chairman of the jury is Dr. Krzysztof Jurecki.
The exhibition is curated by Arkadiusz Ławrywianiec (President of ZPAF OŚ).
The commissioner of the competition is - Lukasz Cyrus, a member of ZPAF Silesian District.
The competition is organized by the "Source" Photo Club - Aleksander Orszulik (ZPAF OŚ), Bartosz Klosek, Krzysztof Stryj, Łukasz Cyrus (ZPAF OŚ).