A lover of looking - Kamil Myszkowski

vernissage 1.03.2023 / hour 18:30 / Gallery Katowice Zpaf

The presented exhibition is the result of the last five years of my research work on the photo amateur movement, and its main purpose is to illustrate the attitudes and image of the photo amateur as it has developed in history and culture. This is, of course, a certain view of the problem under discussion, as it seems impossible to create a comprehensive overview. Also, I was a photo amateur, so I will not escape the autobiographical threads that the viewer will see in the exhibition. After all, the best point of reference is one's own attitude, but I hope it will not overshadow the broader context.

Is photography a difficult field? Can anyone engage in it? Is the camera a documentation tool suitable for everyone? For many, the medium in question, for nearly 200 years of its existence, became a way and purpose of life, and the camera was literally an extension of the eye. Photography became a source of passion, joy, love, but also a cause of longing, devotion or struggle. After all, there is no shortage in history of those who fell into the special trap of looking, sacrificing themselves endlessly in the process.

It is worth mentioning the motivations and method of work. The works presented as part of the exhibition are part of the concept of "archeology of photography" proposed and practiced by Jerzy Lewczynski. In my work I decided to treat it in two ways - first of all as a creative practice, but on the other hand also as a research method. The use of the aforementioned concept in my work on the exhibition manifested itself in several ways. First, it was the restoration of memory of facts and events reconstructed on the basis of photographic findings. Secondly, it was expanding the field of influence of the image by reaching into the depths of photography and exploring its materiality. Thirdly, revealing the magical nature of the medium as a trigger of memory and emotion. Fourth, as a special kind of research activity, both on the medium itself and on what it illustrates.

And does your photography absorb you fully, or are you just a user of the camera? How can passion affect and change lives - I hope that the "Lover of Looking" exhibition will together provide answers to these and many other questions. I also hope to pay tribute to photographers through it in the right way.

Kamil Myszkowski

A lover of looking - within such a meaningful and multidimensional term situates himself and his activities Kamil Myszkowski - photographer, visual artist, collector of old photographs, creatively active within the Silesian District of the ZPAF.

"The Lover of Looking," is also the title of the author's upcoming exhibition, which we will soon have the pleasure of seeing at the ZPAF Gallery in Katowice at the beginning of March 2023. It touches on an extremely broad and interesting issue closely related to the phenomenon of amateur photography.

The reception of Myszkowski's latest exhibition can be situated on at least two levels.

The first is the point of view of a fascinator, enthusiast, enthusiast - a lover precisely - who has great affection for this particular area of photographic activity, moreover, who is able to creatively use the potential of the "amateur's gaze."

Echoes of references to the concept of "archeology of photography" by Jerzy Lewczynski, to which the author refers extensively, are consciously and precisely located in the presented works, but their overtones are subtle. Just enough to carry the message.

The second way of "reading" the charm of amateur photography in Kamil Myszkowski's interpretation is located in a synthetic approach: as a function of the inquisitiveness and methodological accuracy of the researcher, working out in detail this not easy issue. Such a polarization, although fundamentally apparent (lover-researcher), is an interesting feature of the presented exhibition. The author makes an attempt to valorize the very idea of amateur photography, which nowadays has a stigma of pejorative associations. This is because the exhibition directly relates to the doctoral thesis (in fact, it is an integral part of it), which the author will soon be finalizing.

The author writes in his text for the exhibition:

"The presented exhibition is the result of the last five years of my research work on the photo amateur movement, and its main purpose is to illustrate the attitudes and image of the photo amateur as it has developed in history and culture. This is, of course, a certain look at the problem under discussion, as it seems impossible to create a comprehensive view of the."

Jerzy Orawski

Kamil Myszkowski - artist photographer, creator of installations and videos, collector of photographs and old negatives, curator of photographic and historical exhibitions, animator of cultural life. Member of the Union of Polish Artists Photographers Silesian District. Member of the Polish Society for Film and Media Studies. Doctoral student at the Institute of Cultural Sciences at the Faculty of Humanities.
University of Silesia in Katowice. Scholarship holder of the Mayor of the City of Sosnowiec in the Field of Culture in 2020. On a daily basis he works in the Department of Mechanical Documentation of the Silesian Museum.
In Katowice and as a teacher of photography. He participates in the activities of Jaworzno's School of Vision and Group 999, and conducts photography workshops for various institutions.