This article had a chance to go down in the history of "Fotografia Quarterly" as interesting and beautiful, but it passed only as interesting. Its protagonist, Tomasz Gudzowaty, sent a dozen of his beautiful photographs to the editorial office, but at the same time asked for the text of the article, which was written by Renata Gluza, then a journalist for the monthly magazine "Press". And it began...
- You'd better not show him the article before publication," the author advised. - He wants to control everything that appears in the press about him, we in our editorial office never show the heroes what we write about them. They find out only from the magazine already printed and distributed. As journalists we want to be completely free in our writing, we do not tolerate interference in our texts.
Unfortunately, she was right. Gudzowaty was so kind and adamant that after what was always at least a half-hour phone call, I succumbed and sent him the text. Initially, the corrections he suggested were for minor technical details and there was no reason not to make them. Later, however, the changes were to go too far and I could no longer agree to them. Then Mr. Tomasz withdrew the permission he had previously given us to publish his photos, which we managed to break along with the text. The 16-page article looked amazing, by the way, one of the photos was to be used on the cover. And then I came up with the idea to insert "crossed-out" rectangles in the places where the photos had originally been, and on the last full-page photo, instead of the image, we gave the entire web address that appears in a Google search when you type the phrase "Tomasz Gudzowaty." In a way, this was a redirection of readers to the Internet, where the photographs withdrawn from "Quarterly Photography" can be found. At the end of the article there was an explanation as to why there were rectangles instead of photographs, but to be honest I'm not sure if this was understood by all readers. I must also note a nice gesture by Tomasz Gudzowaty: already after the withdrawal of permission to publish the photos, he sent me one of his photographs - of a Brazilian boxer from the sports series and an album entitled "Keiko" from the ship graveyard.
- You are brave," I heard from Renata Gluza when she saw "KF" printed. It's a pity that it happened the way it did, because I was very anxious to publish Gudzowaty's photographs. At the time, the Polish photographic community was divided in its assessment of his work - more than once, more than twice, I heard comments here and there along the lines of: "the guy is so rich that he can afford to hire a whole staff of helpers to take these photos for him, and he only brands them with his name". Certainly, such a dismissive attitude towards Gudzowaty was influenced by his African exhibition, from which came the "School of Killing" awarded at World Press Photo. I remember that it was shown, among other places, at the Zamek Cultural Center, and the opening with the author's participation was attended by crowds that I had never seen before or since at a photographic exhibition in Poznan. The magnet was, of course, the name of one of the richest Poles, so in addition to photography enthusiasts, there was a not at all large group of representatives of Poznan business.
And the exhibition, although "spruced up" - stunning large-format technically perfect enlargements - was simply weak: there were far too many photographs, and many of them differed little from each other. At the time, the fledgling author didn't yet know that photography was the art of selection, of choice, and that there was no point in showing everything one had taken.
Later, Gudzowaty grew a lot, as evidenced by numerous awards in important world competitions. His series on rare sports are beautiful. I still remember, for example, the extraordinary photos of synchronized swimmers. His greatest sin in the eyes of many Polish photographers, however, was still the fact that he had money, the kind that others didn't even dream of. This was something they could not forgive him for. In private conversations, I always defended Gudzowaty, saying that after all, the guy could have fun or do a hundred other things, yet he prefers to pack his large-format equipment, fly to the other end of the world to photograph the monks of the Shaolin monastery or penguins in the southern hemisphere. From this conviction came the idea to write about Tomasz Gudzowaty in the Quarterly. I did not want another essay on creativity, but something else, namely an in-depth story about the man, preferably written by someone from outside the photographic community. And so it fell on Renata Gluza, who had once met Tomasz Gudzowaty. I proposed to her to write a profile of Gudzowaty, a form of journalism that was a complete novelty in "KF"-or perhaps in Polish art journalism in general.
I think it's worth recalling this article more than a decade after it was written.
By the way, a write-up on what went on in Tomasz Gudzowaty's life after 2011 is waiting to be completed, and it would be worthwhile to make a critical artistic assessment of his work. Who wants to undertake this?
Here is Renata Gluza's "Canon of a Dozen Photos" from issue 38 of "KF" in 2011:
About Tomasz Gudzowaty Polish photographers know only that he takes very good pictures. And that they could not believe it for a long time.
She sat next to him, impressing all the guests at the welcome dinner for the Czech Press Photo jury in Prague with her beauty. She had already accompanied Tomasz Gudzowaty at the afternoon opening of his exhibition, but it was only at the dinner in the restaurant at Hradčany Castle that some dared to ask Gudzowaty's assistant who the accompanying beauty was. - An assignment from "Vogue," they heard.
When the jurors went to sleep before a hard day of deliberations, Tomasz Gudzowaty worked through the night, doing a session of a model dragged specially by British "Vogue" to Prague, bearing the title of some other Miss World. Then a whole day of work in the jury of the Czech Press Photo, watching and judging the photos, and in the evening - instead of a joint dinner with the jury - another session with another beauty for "Vogue." In the morning, the already developed and framed black-and-white portraits were ready to be sent to London. - I always send the editors the photos developed, finished, framed," Gudzowaty stressed. He looked tired, but argued that such a mode of work is the norm for him.
It was October 2011, and he had the coming weeks arranged in several other countries, planning to drop by his family in Budapest only briefly.
- He has virtually severed all professional ties with Poland, no longer has any business here as a photographer, and rarely shows up in our country," assesses photographer Wojciech Druszcz, a member of the Press Photography Club at the Association of Polish Journalists. In February this year, he managed to bring Gudzowaty to Poland for a day, when the opening of his exhibition "Beyond the Body" took place at Warsaw's ZPAF Old Gallery on the occasion of the presentation of his 2011 ZAiKS Award in Visual Arts. The next day Gudzowaty was already abroad. He stopped by again briefly for the opening of his exhibition in Sopot - and left immediately.
- A ghost man - I hear from several well-known Polish photojournalists. Knowledge of Tomasz Gudzowaty is among his professional colleagues here in Poland in inversely proportional to their awareness of the awards he has won around the world.
- For me, Tomasz Gudzowaty is as much of an enigma as for other colleagues," says even Rafal Milach, with whom Gudzowaty-owned Yours Gallery has signed a contract to represent him.
Album, or consultation with the best
Tomasz Gudzowaty does not help unravel the mystery. Several attempts to arrange a meeting are unsuccessful - he is constantly on the move. He does not agree to talk on the phone. The only thing left is to send questions by e-mail. The answers do not surprise: they are laconic, sometimes running off to the side.
At 41, he cleverly covers himself with oblivion, so I write down from past interviews: he has photographed since childhood, with Smiena and Druh. At school - his classmates. The next day he would bring them finished prints. At home - his beloved schnauzer Garo. His parents noticed his fascination with photography and bought him an enlarger. Uncle Jerzy Kocinski, his mother's brother, showed him the magic of the darkroom and became his first teacher.
- I don't associate too much with the beginnings of his photography, and that he has such a fondness for it, I didn't assume at all," says Alexander Gudzowaty, the father.
Tomasz Gudzowaty, on the other hand, did not anticipate that studying law would bring him disappointment in the profession. He graduated from the Faculty of Law and Administration at the University of Warsaw, but did not work in the profession.
He traveled and photographed. - He probably surprised how he made the first album from Kenya," Alexander Gudzowaty wonders when his son really began to see himself as a professional photographer.
It was a several-month stay in Kenya in 1995 that made the photography community hear about Tomasz Gudzowaty. Its result was the album "Kenya - on the Trails of Nature" with nature photos taken in the Masai Mara park. The release of the album was financed by his father's company, Bartimpex.
Aleksander Gudzowaty, one of the richest Poles, is always mentioned in conversations about Tomasz Gudzowaty: his father's fortune, on the one hand, made it possible for his son to fulfill his dreams of travel and photography, but on the other hand, it is like a curse, since his every achievement in the photography market has long been quoted with the statement: "If I had so much money...". So when in subsequent years Bartimpex published calendars with nature photos taken by Tomasz, professionals appreciated their editorial quality (in 1998 Bartimpex's calendar received an award in the Vidical competition), photographers quoted it as a waste of money for mediocre photography.
In 1997, Gudzowaty showed his photos from Kenya at ZPAF's Old Gallery. - I remember that the exhibition was done on a grand scale and was a promotion of an album," recalls acclaimed Polish photographer Andrzej Zygmuntowicz, former president of ZPAF. - Somehow these photos were interesting, although they were typical of Africa, banal in terms of content. The Masai were shown more as a curiosity to be viewed. There was still no attempt to analyze the present day. I was amazed that this guy was taking pictures at all," adds Zygmuntowicz.
- I was a consultant for this work," admits Professor Janusz Fogler, one of Poland's most respected photographers, former president of ZPAF, now president of ZAiKS. It was through the album from Kenya that he met Gudzowaty the photographer. - I looked at the draft of this publication in his father's office, who asked me for my opinion on it," he says. - A few things I didn't like, I made some comments, not all of them were taken into account. The album was overdone, it should have been 20 percent slimmer, I think too many people advised on it. It was Tomek's debut, today he would certainly do it differently," he says.
Aleksander Gudzowaty made sure that the best people worked on the album. The design was prepared by graphic designer, Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts professor Lech Majewski, and the printing was done by Jerzy Lapinski, an acclaimed photographer who is considered a specialist in photo reproduction. - Gudzowaty-father was looking for someone to find him the best printing house, Tomaszewski recommended me," says Lapinski. He became the producer of the album. - These photos were correct. They lacked nothing, but the mastery of the world was not. Although the album came out magnificently," adds Lapinski.
The album-brick, printed in the best printing house in Switzerland, great editorially-was impressive. And gave rise to comments: that it was so lavish, and the photos were of different quality. - This further strengthened the attitude towards Thomas at the time: that in fact his father was behind him, that thanks to his money he could afford to go to Africa and prepare such a publication," recalls Prof. Fogler.
The sponge man, or the Tomaszewski school
However, the young Gudzowaty was quick to learn the art of photography, and from the masters. Among others, from Tomasz Tomaszewski, one of the best Polish photojournalists, who worked for "National Geographic" for many years. In 1999, he explained in Press, "I met Tomasz [Gudzowaty] through his father, who asked me for consultation and suggestions on the selection and arrangement of photos for the album from Kenya."
- It is a fact that I spoke with Mr. Tomaszewski, whom I still hold in high esteem, about my son's photos. He helped us choose the photos for the album," admits Alexander Gudzowaty. - I also know that he later photographed with his son," he adds.
"He explained to me everything that is most important in photography. He presented a moral code, outlined ethical boundaries that a photographer cannot cross. He encouraged me to try photographing people," Tomasz Gudzowaty told "Press" in 1999 about his then mentor. It was thanks to his support and that of the head of the photo department at "National Geographic" that Gudzowaty became a member of the professional organization American Society of Media Photographers at a young age and with little output.
- I met Tomasz Gudzowaty through Tom Tomaszewski. It was sometime in 1997," recalls Marcin Kydrynski, who was also involved in photography at the time. Tomaszewski joked that if he wanted to buy slide frames, he couldn't find any in Warsaw, because a certain Tomasz Gudzowaty had bought them all - he was so horny about photography. - He talked about young Gudzowaty as a man absolutely in love with photography," recalls Kydrynski. It wasn't long before he met him himself, when Tomaszewski and Gudzowaty offered him to join the project of publishing the Polish edition of National Geographic. The plan was this: Tomaszewski, as the magazine's photojournalist, was to be a consultant and liaison with the American publisher; Gudzowaty was to be the owner of the Polish publication, Kydrynski was to be the editor-in-chief, and Marek Zaganczyk was to be the editor. Talks were held with the magazine's American publisher; the four of them met several times to work out the details - but the project did not work out. The Americans chose to work with a professional publisher, entrusting the Polish edition of "National Geographic" to the G+J concern.
- Then I lost contact with Tom Gudzowaty. I know that with Tomaszewski they still worked very closely for some time, they traveled together to Kenya and the Philippines for shooting," says Marcin Kydrynski.
- He was learning all the time," says Jerzy Lapinski. After the album was released, he continued to work with the young Gudzowaty, preparing prints of his photos and giving advice. - He's a sponge guy, soaking up every bit of knowledge. He learned reporter photography from Tomaszewski, but he also listened to others, verified what they said, and looked for his own way," adds Lapinski.
He was surprised by Tomasz Gudzowaty's diligence and attention to detail. - I once went with him to Hamburg to supervise the production of color photographs," says Lapinski. Gudzowaty developed the films in Hamburg, because there were great labs there. - We would show up at the lab at eight in the morning, right after it opened, and sit until the evening. He knew what he wanted, his requirements were high. They'd bring him a sample, and he'd ask for another and another, they kept tweaking until it was perfect," recalls Lapinski.
Gudzowaty switched from nature photography to social photography, taking pictures at the Paralympics in Sydney in 2000, for example, and four years later in Athens. He presented them at exhibitions in Poland. - At the time, I followed the discussions about Tom in the photography community. The Sydney photographs were not bad, but they were not great either. However, he was criticized not because he has no talent, but because he has a rich father," says Jerzy Lapinski.
- After nature photography, Gudzowaty tried classic reporter photography, but quickly realized that a news photographer he was not, analyzes Andrzej Zygmuntowicz. - And the Sydney footage was interesting from the point of view of composition and color, but in terms of the importance of the event, it was lukewarm, he adds.
Jerzy Lapinski speculates that the later change in the nature of Gudzowaty's photography was influenced, among other things, by his conversations with Tomasz Tomaszewski. - I remember Tomaszewski advising him that since he had money, he could go to places where there were no crowds of photographers, but where there were subjects of interest to the photographer, Lapinski recalls.
- Everything Gudzowaty knew about photography at the time, he knew from Tomaszewski. It was a master-student relationship and a true friendship," adds Kydrynski.
Suddenly it was over. Today neither of them even wants to talk about the other. The photographers I asked don't know the reasons. Or at least they don't reveal. Krzysztof Miękus, a photographer and traveler, speaks mysteriously: - They were too strong personalities to function together. Both very charismatic, they were doomed to conflict.
Two photos of him and his son taken for them by Tomaszewski still hang in Alexander Gudzowaty's office. - It would be unethical to underestimate his role in what my son has achieved in photography," admits the Bartimpex co-owner.
From Tomasz Gudzowaty's e-mail response to a question about Tomaszewski: "Our acquaintance was always of a private nature. I would not call it a teacher-student relationship."
Reward, or equipment takes pictures
He watched this cheetah with her cubs for four weeks. One day the mother began teaching the cats how to kill. She hunted an antelope and gave it to the cubs. It was already dark, so he changed the film's sensitivity setting. He captured the moment when the two little cheetahs keep their paws on the small antelope, not knowing much what to do with it. It was the summer of 1998.
When I visited Tomasz Gudzowaty at his home in Warsaw's Żoliborz district in February 1999, I was struck by the huge number of hotel door hangers hanging from the ceiling. They came from some of the world's finest hotels, and a somewhat abashed Gudzowaty explained that collecting them was his hobby. (From Gudzowaty's e-mail response to a question about whether he still collects them: "Passionately.")
He had just won his first prize in World Press Photo - a photo of cheetahs taken in Kenya, which he titled "First lesson in killing," won first place in the Nature and Environment category. He was 28 years old. He talked a bit chaotically, and it was clear that he had no experience with the media yet. More than the technical side of photography, he preferred to talk about his impressions of observing cheetah life.
He photographed them with a Nikon F5 with various lenses (the award-winning photo was taken with a zoom at a focal length of about 200 mm). The envy of photojournalists was especially a 600mm "tube" worth almost 40,000 zlotys at the time, few had one. It was also said that one must have the time and resources to afford a few weeks in Africa.
"He had time to wait for the right moment, but this does not diminish his success." - Wojciech Druszcz, then a photojournalist for Polityka, defended Gudzowaty. Many Polish photojournalists only then heard about the young Gudzowaty. Although he had already published his photographs in Wprost, Przekroj, Viva!, dailies, even Time, but the circle of Polish photojournalists did not recognize him as their own.
- When Tomasz Gudzowaty sent photos to the Polish Press Photography Contest, the jury debated a lot whether to reward him. He got the prize, but I remember the discussion, not very substantive," says Andrzej Zygmuntowicz.
- I was a juror in Polish competitions and I remember how they considered whether to award Gudzowaty or not. The cabot's opinion "Why does he need an award when he has so much money anyway" won out. It always outraged me," recalls Prof. Janusz Fogler.
However, the photos from Africa were popular: Gudzowaty had exhibitions all over Poland, gave more and more interviews. "Gazeta Wyborcza Trójmiasto" wrote about him "photographer-ecologist": while working, he does not interfere with the natural environment of animals, does not use flash. The exhibition "Keep Smiling" (all photos, publications and exhibitions Gudzowaty consistently titles in English) of 60 photos taken in Africa between 1996 and 2000 even hung in 2002 on the fence of the Royal Lazienki Park in Warsaw.
- At the same time, Gudzowaty was making contacts abroad, says Andrej Reiser, one of the founders in the 1980s of Hamburg's Bilderberg photo agency. - In the late 1990s, I was already living in Prague when a calendar with animals from Africa came to me in the mail. A big one, beautifully published. The name Gudzowaty didn't tell me anything at the time. I understood that he meant to make contact with the Bilderberg agency, but I was no longer involved with it then, so I didn't help him. I remembered the calendar, however, because it was unique.
For Bilderberg, Gudzowaty later did, for example, the "Seven Continents" project in 2002, depicting the world's most beautiful buildings as a backdrop for a ballet dance. He became permanently affiliated with the German Focus Agentur, which still sells his photos today.
In 2000 Tomasz Gudzowaty won his second prize in World Press Photo - a photograph of antelope crossing the Mara River in a Kenyan national park took second place in the Nature and Environment category.
He spent three months in 1999 photographing wildebeest antelope migrating from Tanzania to Kenya, and took 98 films on a day when 300,000 antelope crowded the banks of the Mara River.
The curse, or father apologizes to his son
"A horse's head can't contain how many equestrian enthusiasts have appeared here," he said. - quoted the words of President Aleksander Kwasniewski, "Gazeta Wyborcza", reporting in 2000 on the opening of the "Garo" Equestrian Club in the village of Wólka on the edge of the Kampinos Forest. The club belonged to an association financed by Tomasz Gudzowaty, a horse lover. "There were three times as many bodyguards as horses," "GW" wrote maliciously. The indoor riding arena, hippodrome and stables for a dozen horses cost $2.5 million, according to the daily. The cream of politicians, mainly from the left, attended the opening: in addition to the president, also Leszek Miller, Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz, Jozef Oleksy and Jerzy Urban. Gudzowaty presented the number one honorary member's card to the president.
Indeed, in the early 2000s, the media reported on Tomasz Gudzowaty not only as a photographer, but also as a businessman. Especially in the real estate market. In Warsaw, the story of the tenement house on Jerozolimskie Avenue in the center of the city, which was bought in 2002 by To- masz Gudzowaty Photography Investments for about 4 million zlotys, was followed for several years. Because after the purchase the owner decided to get rid of the 30 families living there. The press wrote that there were plans to demolish the tenement and build a modern office building in that place. - I saw the plans that Tomasz Gudzowaty had for the building: he wanted to make a Center of Photography there," says Jerzy Lapinski. But since not all the residents wanted to accept Gudzowaty's company's proposal on the terms of moving out, the war went on for several years, including cutting off the gas and bolting the elevator. Eventually, the building was abandoned, but since the provincial conservator had placed the tenement on the register of historical monuments, it could no longer be demolished. In 2007, Gudzowaty's company (then Yours Inve- stments) sold the building.
From Gudzowaty's email response to a question about why he gave up on the tenement renovation: "The bureaucratic hassle is not something I would have to mention."
Other investments by the photographer also attracted interest, such as the purchase of a plot of land near the Sejm from the heirs of Countess Maria Karnkowska, or the exchange of 67.5 hectares of land within the Kampinos National Park owned by Tomasz Gudzowaty for 21 hectares of land under the park's management, but lying outside its main complex - the press speculated whether the state would lose out on this exchange.
From Gudzowaty's email response to a question about what he used the listed land for, "You are asking about matters that belong to my father."
Tomasz Gudzowaty businessman did not have good press, and this carried over to the opinion of Gudzowaty photographer. - What things I had not heard about him! It was said that the guy, thanks to his father, has unconscious money, so he probably buys these photos for himself, meaning that they are taken by someone else," remembers Wojciech Druszcz. - And on top of that, not only is he rich, but he also wins awards. This must have aroused envy," he adds.
- What does money have to do with it? It's the head that takes the picture," Marcin Kydrynski is indignant at the mention of such remarks. - In the case of his projects, the financial issue was raised wrongly. The photojournalists of "National Geographic" also traveled all over the world for huge sums of money, often slept in the best hotels, and they were paid for everything by the editors at the time. The difference in Tom's case is that he travels for his own," he adds.
- I repeatedly heard various slanders about Tomasz Gudzowaty, but when I asked for examples, no one could give any. His father did not gain the public's sympathy, so it shifted to his son," says Andrzej Zygmuntowicz.
Alexander Gudzowaty: - I apologized to my son that because of me he is treated like this. To this day I have remorse for that. He waved his hand and replied: "Leave it, this is Poland."
From Gudzowaty's email response to a question about whether his rich father made it difficult for him to get started in the Polish photography industry: "Parents deserve love, not resentment."
Especially since the environment sometimes behaved unfairly. Professor Janusz Fogler recalls how, in 2002, he became president of the Association of Polish Artists Photographers and shortly afterwards, at a meeting of people of culture at the home of President Aleksander Kwasniewski, he met Tomasz Gudzowaty.
- He congratulated me on my position as president of the ZPAF, then added, "And did you know that I was supposed to be the president?" - recounts Prof. Fogler. Then Tomasz Gudzowaty told him that before the elections two representatives of ZPAF came to him with a proposal to become the president of the Association. He was to agree, but in addition to that he was to help - at their request - ZPAF financially, giving funds for the renovation of the Union's headquarters. Apparently, he gave too little, the professor thinks, and they expected more, because they didn't show up again and didn't invite Gudzowaty to the convention. Soon after, he learned that someone else had become chairman. - I declared to Mr. Tomasz directly that I would resign my position in his favor, but he waved his hand. And so it stayed," Professor Fogler concludes. I also hear this story from another photographer.
From Gudzowaty's email response to a question about the incident: "There was no such proposal or subsidy."
- I think Gudzowaty saw this attitude of the environment towards him: to extract as much as possible," says Andrzej Zygmuntowicz. - If he saw sense, he got involved financially. I negotiated the project of a photography school with him, but he decided that Poland was too small a market for such a school and did not agree," he adds.
In 2010, the "Garo" Sports Club ceased its sports activities in their current form, that is, it stopped maintaining professional riders. The Światkoni.pl website writes about Tomasz Gudzowaty: "For the generosity and faith in the success of Polish equestrian sport shown over these almost 10 years, he deserves words of great thanks."
Linhof, which means you have to think first
When I visit Tomasz Gudzowaty again in 2003 to talk about photos taken at the Shaolin Monastery in China, there is no trace of the shy boy. His company on Gdanska Street in Warsaw - the Tomasz Gudzowaty Photography agency - is crowded with young people, he himself gives the impression of a busy businessman. He downplays the question of whether his fellow photographers have changed their attitudes toward him: "I've been taking pictures for so long that the profits from them have allowed me to create my own agency, and I don't complain about a lack of assignments." By this time, he is already photographing mainly for Western agencies. For his photos of practicing monks from Shaolin Monastery, he wins two awards in the 2003 World Press Photo competition in the Sports category: first place in the group of single photos (the famous photo with a monk walking on a vertical wall) and second place in reportage. In Shaolin, he photographed for the German agency Focus.
Colleagues congratulated - and commented. Isn't the photo with the monk on the vertical wall staged? "I took the photo of the monk running on the wall on the last day, in the last hour of our work" (Fotopolis.pl, 2003). Why are the two authors, he and Robert Boguslawski, signed under the photos? "Robert Boguslawski has been accompanying me on photographic expeditions for about two years as an assistant, and has often taken his own photos as well (...). When we selected the photos for the WPP contest, we found that our works together create more than one interesting story" ("Press" 2/2003). He explained the signature of the two authors under the single winning photo by saying that the WPP jury took it out of a series submitted by both of them.
Robert Boguslawski is no longer cooperating with Gudzowaty and does not want to talk about this cooperation - unless Gudzowaty himself expresses a desire to do so. Gudzowaty does not express it (from the editors: in a phone conversation, Gudzowaty claims that he has not contacted Boguslawski about the matter at all).
The Shaolin photos draw the attention of photojournalists to the change in Gudzowaty's workshop and the different nature of his photography. He already remains faithful to black-and-white photography. And a subject planned for many years: traditional sports. As he proves, at first he didn't see it as a big project, but over time he saw a logical sequence of individual stories. So he assumed that the whole would consist of 40 essays (he now has more than half of them ready). He originally titled the project "Sports Features," but now it's called "Beyond the Body." His photographs are not about sports struggles, but about the spiritual side, about people dedicated to traditional sports. As he explained in Polityka, it's meant to be a personal version of the anthropology of sports. The inspiration came from Sebastião Salgado's photographic project "Workers."
Before that, he changed cameras like gloves, from Smiena when he was still a child through Canon to Nikon, to which he still remains faithful. It has always been analog technique (at most he takes documentary photos with a digital camera). He does his sports project with a 4×5 inch Linhof Master Technika Classic large format camera. This equipment requires experience and thinking, with it there is no room for random photos, "shooting" hundreds of shots to choose the best. Each frame must be carefully thought out beforehand.
- Gudzowaty's photography first showed a look at the world, not very deep. Then an analysis of other cultures from the point of view of their authenticity; such were, for example, the photos showing the dismantling of ships in Bangladesh. Gudzowaty used them to tell the story of man's duty to work, it was well-conceived material," analyzes the change in Gudzowaty's work by Andrzej Zygmuntowicz. - On the other hand, since he entered the subject of sports, he has been very consistent. He has noticed that sports are a part of cultures, one of the markers of tradition. His pictures would not be so good if they showed only theater. Gudzowaty found a tool to show selected sports: a large-format camera. The informational and functional capacity of material taken with a 4×5-inch camera is incomparable to material taken with digital, Zygmuntowicz concludes. And the use of an iconic material, such as Polaroid 55, makes the photos have a distinctive look and are recognizable (the stock of Polaroid bought for a few years, however, has run out for Gudzowaty, and he now uses Ilford HP5 Plus film).
Gudzowaty's photographic material is processed by Lukasz Smudzinski, a Yours Gallery employee who has been working with him for seven years. He works in a darkroom owned by the photographer, on Durst Laborator and De Vere 508H enlargers. After the negatives are developed, contacts are made on polyethylene paper (known as plastic), then a preliminary selection is made and small enlargements are made - sometimes on plastic, sometimes on baryta. The exhibition prints are always on baryta paper. Gudzowaty prepares two editions of his works - 33 prints of each. The works, which are produced only in one copy (the so-called collectors edition), have a format of 140×119 cm - 174×116 cm (depending on the proportions of the negative).
Tomasz Gudzowaty hates digital prints. If a photo has to be sent electronically, prints are always scanned.
Andrzej Zygmuntowicz: - Personality-wise he is isolated. Once, after he had already won two or three awards in World Press Photo, I asked him why he was out of the community. He replied: "It's not my fault."
Gallery, or the stigma of the name
"This will be the most spectacular opening of a private gallery in Warsaw," announced "Gazeta Stołeczna" in February 2004, as Tomasz Gudzowaty was opening his Yours Gallery in the prestigious Metropolitan building. And since he had brought Patricia Kaas to the concert to celebrate the opening, "Gazeta" titled the announcement: "Opening with k(l)asa."
About 2,000 people were invited to the opening, including many celebrities. Among them were: Kayah, Monika Olejnik, Katarzyna Dowbor, Natalia Kukulska, Daniel Passent with his daughter Agata. Yours began with Gudzowaty's retrospective exhibition "My Walk." He himself explained the launch of the gallery: "I have about 800 clients a year. They call me, they want to see my works, buy them. I wanted to create a friendly place for them" ("Gazeta Wyborcza" February 2004; [from the editors: Tomasz Gudzowaty, in a telephone conversation with the editors, stated that he never talked about 800 customers]).
- Then I heard about Gudzowaty again, that he's a guy who does good photography and that he created a gallery, somewhat snobbish, but that there is some good photography there," says Wojciech Druszcz. - I went and had mixed feelings: in addition to very good photos there was a lot of repetition, the exhibition was badly edited, as if he wanted to show everything he had. It was only with subsequent exhibitions that it became apparent that someone who knows is watching over it," he adds.
Yours Gallery, initially received with reservation as another fad of a wealthy photographer, quickly won over the community. It organized exhibitions of world celebrities such as: Elliot Erwitt, Jan Grarup, Damien Peyret, Magnum Photos photographers. It also gave young Polish photographers a chance to make their debut and exhibited photos of those already known, such as Rafał Milach, Adam Panczuk, Wojciech Wieteska, Szymon Szczesniak. - It was the only place where one could see a decent photographic exhibition. Moreover, the gallery went beyond the exhibition form," says Rafal Milach. There were workshops or, for example, screenings of documentaries about the world's most famous photojournalists as part of meetings with photography. In 2006 Yours moved to a tenement house on Krakowskie Przedmieście. It operated as part of the Yours Gallery Foundation. - The goal was to create a place that would promote good photography. Tomasz Gudzowaty threw out the idea, gathered people and put the gallery under their management," says Lukasz Smudzinski of Yours Gallery. As he points out, the initiator of the venture didn't interfere too much in the gallery's activities, its employees searched for whom to exhibit, and organized the exhibitions themselves. Gudzowaty also showed his photos there and acted as a patron. Although he did not interfere in the preparation of the exhibitions, he was always able to point out shortcomings.
For a while he was also a publisher in parallel - for in 2003 he bought the monthly magazine "Pozytyw". - He tried to create a structure that would encompass photography-related activities on different levels: it was to be a publishing house, a laboratory and a photography school. "Pozytyw" was part of this plan," says Krzysztof Miękus, the magazine's editor for three years, and for some time its chief editor.
It was published in a circulation of about 5,000 copies, its purpose was to popularize photography. Gudzowaty reportedly did not press for it to popularize his activities in this field. - We boasted, of course, about what the magazine's owner was doing, especially when he won more awards, but there was no pressure from his side," Miękus stresses. But he realizes what role "Pozytyw" was supposed to play. - Through the magazine's good image among photographers, Gudzowaty's image in the community was also changing, Miękus admits. Occasionally it happened that photographers refused to give their pictures to "Pozytyw" because of the person of its owner.
Tomasz Gudzowaty's expectation was to contribute less and less to the monthly magazine over time, but this did not work out. Krzysztof Miękus left because, he says, he didn't see the point of developing the magazine in print form, and the publisher of investing in an online form. In 2006 Gudzowaty closed the magazine.
It was also impossible to attract support for Yours Gallery's activities. Bringing an exhibition by a well-known photographer from abroad cost tens of thousands of zlotys, someone from Magnum - much more expensive. Attempts were made to attract sponsors, but "for Gudzowaty Gallery" was not easy. - We wanted to create a strong Yours brand, but we felt the stigma of the Gudzowaty name a bit. Well, and we probably didn't try hard enough," admits Lukasz Smudzinski. He remembers reluctance on the part of the media. - We attracted the best photographers, and it took a lot of effort for someone to want to interview them. Instead of reviews of exhibitions, the press gave "copy-paste" of press materials," he says. So he was surprised when, after the gallery closed in February 2011, the same press wrote so warmly: "Yours leaves behind not even a void, but a serious breach."
Gudzowaty made the decision to close suddenly, in February 2011, during the Juul Hondius exhibition. - Radical cutting is his M.O.," says Lukasz Smudzinski. He admits that Gudzowaty had already been hinting at closing the gallery, because he didn't like its management, including the fact that exhibitions are not planned in advance, that there is no budget planned.
From Gudzowaty's e-mailed response to a question about whether he considers the gallery's closure a personal failure: "A certain formula has been exhausted - that's all. I don't perceive such events as personal failures."
The gallery is currently in the process of preparing to move to Budapest. Tomasz Gudzowaty lives there with his partner, Hungarian photographer Judit Berekai, and their two children.
Story board, or eliminate chance
They met in Paris and have been working together since 2004. Even less is known about Judit Berekai than about her partner. She is seven years younger than Thomas, reports on her website that she was born in the small Hungarian town of Szekszard and her passion has always been traveling. He does not attend vernissages with her, and attempts to contact Judit herself end with the information that "you should contact Mr. Tomasz" (this is what was said, for example, at the Polish Institute in Budapest, and this is also what Gudzowaty's assistants convey when asked for Judit Berekai's contact information). In late 2011 and early 2012, the Polish Institute in Budapest showed an exhibition of her photos featuring Hungarian-speaking Roma from Transylvania. This footage taken in 2007 was her first individual major project.
Most of the photos on her site are those taken together with Gudzowaty. Their first project was photos from Peru, then they traveled to India together several times, resulting in footage of Kerala fists, Mysore Indian wrestlers practicing the martial art of nada kusti, and Varanasi yogis. These photos have earned both of them awards in World Press Photo and NPPA Best of Photojournalism. And they are usually signed with the names of both. In interviews, Gudzowaty has touted that this is because some of the photos in the photojournalism are his and some are Judit's.
In recent years, Gudzowaty has been going it alone again (Judit is raising children), winning awards at prestigious foreign competitions since 2008: World Press Photo, Pictures of the Year International, NPPA Best of Photojournalism. She has won awards for her photos of a gymnastics school in China, the Naadam races in Mongolia, car races in Mexico or, as this year, for her photos of wrestling athletes in Mexico. In an interview with Polityka last September, he said: "Awards for me used to be a confirmation of the value of what I do. Today they are like stamps in a traveler's passport (...). In a world of a shrinking press market, they are beginning to be the only reason for publishing photos."
Each of his trips is preceded by lengthy preparation, research, and strategy development. Usually Gudzowaty invents these traditional sports for the project himself. Sometimes he goes to a given place several times, sometimes once is enough. He went to complete the material from Mongolia even when he had already received an award for it. - When doing a project on Japanese sumo, I accompanied him on the first and second trips, but the best photos were taken on the third trip, says Tomasz Lewandowski, an employee of the Yours Gallery Foundation and Tomasz Gudzowaty's assistant. He does the research, sometimes going to the place himself first to make contacts, find locals to help (such as a journalist writing about sumo or the author of a documentary about Brazilian boxers) - who will introduce the environment, help get to know the characters. "Before we take the camera in our hands, we use a method that involves getting to know people deeply in their own world," he said. - Gudzowaty explained in 2006 in Press.
His colleagues unanimously say: the boss knows what kind of photo he wants to take. - His photographs are created first in his head. If he could, he would eliminate coincidence," jokes Lukasz Smudzinski of Yours, who has been traveling with Gudzowaty to take pictures for five years. Because before they leave, there's a painstaking process of preparing, discussing and creating a kind of story board. - On set, I often think: "We've got it," and he thinks: "Not yet," and keeps trying. We talk about building a frame, sometimes he accepts my suggestions, sometimes not," says Smudzinski. He remembers how in 2008 in Antarctica, where the two of them were, he had to weave two kilometers on the ice of scaffolding, because Gudzowaty came up with the idea that emperor penguins look best photographed from a height of 1.70 meters. - I convinced him that it was unnecessary, but he persisted. Then those photos turned out to be the best," says Smudzinski.
Sometimes, as in the case of the Shaolin monk who suddenly ran up a vertical wall, reflexes and coincidence help, and sometimes Gudzowaty asks, for example, that the roof of the monastery be taken down, because he had planned a shot from above. At the same time, he always emphasizes that the pictures are not directed, that he captures authentic situations.
Smudzinski denies rumors about how many entourage Gudzowaty is photographing with. From Gudzowaty's e-mail response to a question about the team: "The number of people working with me on a project depends both on the nature of the project itself and on the technique. Large format is, as a rule, designed for studio work; on set it requires at least one, and even better two people to help. There were times when I photographed alone - not counting the assistance of a local guide - but sometimes there were two or four of us."
He does not believe that timing, reflexes and journalistic insight are the domain of only lone wolves.
He brings back hundreds of photos from his trips. Based on the contacts, he makes a preliminary selection. Then prints are made, some 100 from one story, from which he selects the final 12 photos for the photo essay. Because there are always supposed to be 12, why?
"It's part of my private canon," he replies in an e-mail.
Smudzinski can't wonder about one thing: why his boss is always in such a hurry, he doesn't let a single hour go to waste during the trip, work is from morning to night. There is no time for sightseeing, relaxing, enjoying the landscapes.
Alexander Gudzowaty has his own theory: - When Thomas was a little boy, we had such a game "I let the shlog on you". The one on whom the sludge was let loose necessarily had to perform the given task. Apparently, he continues to function this way. He has a chase of thoughts, but this makes him creative.
Exhibitions, or the snowball effectj
In 2008, Tomasz Gudzowaty's photo taken at a Chinese gymnasium wins the Grand Press Photo competition organized by "Press". Those who have been to the galas of this competition remember that in the first years, when Gudzowaty went out to receive his awards, the hall clapped rather sparingly. This time he walked on stage to a storm of applause. This was a visible sign of a change in the attitude of the photography community toward him. He didn't hide his surprise, especially since there was still a lot of publicity about his father, who revealed conversations with Jozef Oleksy and unleashed a political storm. His son also got his comeuppance - after typing "Tomasz Gudzowaty" into Google, a hint "tomasz gudzowaty gay" appeared. In Wikipedia to this day hangs a false entry that Tomasz Gudzowaty is a member of the Polish Press Agency and the European Press Agency. For that, it is true that in 2009 the Polish Post published a four-stamp series with his photos titled. "Animals of Africa." According to the Polish Post press office, Yours Gallery was the applicant, and the Polish Post philatelic office agreed. Yours Gallery received some of the stamps for its own use.
The Yours Gallery Foundation is now in charge of representing Tomasz Gudzowaty, developing and processing his photos, producing exhibitions, etc. As Tomasz Lewandowski says, every year there are more requests for exhibitions. - It's like a snowball effect. We currently have several proposals for exhibitions from Poland and a few from abroad," he said in mid-March this year. Lewandowski. Yours Gallery also sells prints of Gudzowaty's photos - several dozen a year. They are bought by collectors and people who liked a particular photo and want to have it on their wall. Mainly French, British and Americans, for whom the price of $1,000 per photo is acceptable. Poles also buy, but less often. A 60×50 cm print from a limited edition of 33 copies costs 5.5 thousand zlotys. As part of the "Beyond the Body" project, a special series of large-format prints was created for 150 thousand do- lars. A photo of Chinese gymnasts from this series went to the Museum of Photography in Lausanne.
The value of the Gudzowaty name in the photography market grows with each award, and also as a result of projects such as in 2009, when the famous artist and photographer Nan Goldin included Gudzowaty's photos in her exhibition in Arles.
Ph.D., which means he may be back
- It is known that Tomasz Gudzowaty started from a different financial ceiling and in a different category than many Polish photojournalists. He could buy a yacht for himself with this money and do nothing, but in the meantime he is working, pursuing his passion," says Rafał Milach. - The juries of world competitions do not include amateurs, Gudzowaty's name does not help there. He wins prizes in specific categories, because he consistently pursues his subjects and creatively outdoes many sports photojournalists," Milach adds.
Andrej Reiser: - All of Gudzowaty's photo essays are carefully thought out. He composes them like a writer composes his book: word by word, sentence by sentence. As a result, the message is understandable, rich in content, without unnecessary details.
Reiser got to know Gudzowaty better when he prepared his exhibition in Prague last fall. First, however, he experienced the hardships of working with his associates - because direct contact with Gudzowaty is not easy. He keeps his distance. He surrounds himself with assistants, you can't freely call and chat, exhibition organizers get tired of his curator, who often has his own concepts, it takes a long time to arrange details. Wojciech Druszcz, who organized the February exhibition at ZPAF's Old Gallery, had a similar experience.
Gudzowaty's candidacy for the ZAiKS Award was put forward by photographers and visual artists from ZAiKS. - We felt that as the most successful Polish photographer he fully deserved it," says Wojciech Druszcz.
No one on the ZAiKS board objected to this candidacy. - We wanted to show by this means that the world awards predispose him to be placed among the best. Photographers who also deserve this award received it very positively, without envy, considering it a kind of cleansing in the environment," says Prof. Janusz Fogler. And he hopes that perhaps thanks to this Tomasz Gudzowaty will return to the country.
For now, with assets valued at PLN 760 million, being 26th on the list of "100 Richest Poles 2012" according to "Forbes", Tomasz Gudzowaty is still on the move and home is a place far enough away for him to require travel. He still has a 69 percent stake in Bartimpex, a Yours company, but is not involved in business management. He devotes his time to photography. And as he said in 2003 in an interview with Fotopolis, he is the fifth photographer in the world in terms of profit made for the agency [from the editors: today Tomasz Gudzowaty claims he didn't say that, according to him "it's a media fact"]. - It's not that he didn't become a businessman in spite of his father. He does business, only on photography, which at the same time is his hobby," stresses photographer Jerzy Lapinski.
Tomasz Gudzowaty is now renovating a house in Marievo, near Warsaw, that was given to him by his father. Admittedly, the businessman is angry that his son is destroying his architectural masterpiece, that he has no taste, that he recognizes only right angles and grays - but he is happy that he may one day have his grandchildren close by.
And Prof. Janusz Fogler, who is also dean of the Faculty of Media Art and Stage Design at Warsaw's Academy of Fine Arts, is waiting for Tomasz Gudzowaty to agree with him on the subject of the doctorate in photography he has decided to do with him. He will be his next doctoral student, alongside Tomasz Tomaszewski, among others.
Renata Gluza, a journalist for the monthly magazine "Press"
From the editors:
Tomasz Gudzowaty, having read the text, sent scans of the photographs illustrating the article, but the next day sent an email to the editorial office in which he withdrew permission to publish his photos.
Waldemar Sliwczynski
The article appeared in issue 38 of "Fotografia Quarterly" in 2012
