The vacations are coming to an end, but the photographic life is only just gaining momentum. There are several big events coming up in September and October that you shouldn't miss. We keep posting information about upcoming festivals in the Events section and on our channels on FB and Instagram, but we thought it would be useful to organize this information.
The "From Janusz Chlasta's Garage" festival, organized by Wladek Nielipinski, who managed to persuade dozens of exhibition institutions from Wielkopolska to cooperate, begins tomorrow in Gniezno. Janusz Chlasta was a photojournalist for the local weekly Przemiany Ziemi Gnieźnieńskiej (Transformations of Gniezno Land), which was published in Gniezno and several counties around Gniezno, and started in the 1970s. Janusz died 10 years ago, and his family didn't really know what to do with his archive of negatives, especially since the archive wasn't organized and described; fortunately, Wladyslaw Nielipinski, who at that time was still in charge of the photographic department of the Provincial Public Library and Center for Animation of Culture in Poznan, a photographer, long-time animator of photographic activities, organizer of photo contests and festivals, showed up. He borrowed from his heirs a whole collection of negatives, often twisted and uncut, obviously not described and not arranged chronologically, and then for probably two years scanned frame by frame and cataloged them. And there was a lot of it - about 70,000 frames. To be able to describe each photograph, each series, he went through all the annuals of "Transformations," scanning the entire articles in which the photo or photos in question appeared. In this way, out of the clutter, out of a collection of loose and often unrelated photographs, a database was created, which can, for example, be searched with digital tools. This is an invaluable resource for historians and regionalists, professionals and amateurs, lovers of the region's history. At the same time, Nielipinski, unlike typical museum professionals who jealously guard their collections like an eye in their head, with the approval of the photographer's heir, took care to make Janusz Chlasta's photographs available free of charge. In this way, the photos of the Gniezno photojournalist are still alive, and are still present in social circulation. The Photo Festival "From Janusz Chlasta's Garage" begins on September 1 in Gniezno, and later exhibitions will be opened in various localities -. Here you will find the full program of the Festival.
Friday, September 1 also marks the beginning of the festival in Zory. As the organizers write, The Plein Air Photography Festival grew out of the tradition of the Zory Plein Air Photography Festival, which has been organized since 2010. At the invitation of the Festival organizers, Zory is visited by authors specializing in various types of photography. Their presentations in the intimate festival circle are responses and comments on the leading themes of the Festivals. Intimate portraits and nudes that brought Eva Rubinstein international recognition, surreal worlds created from food by Yumiko Utsu, projects telling stories of towns in the Czech Republic and Slovakia - this year's festival will show a cross-section of themes, forms and places through the lenses of seven artists. This year will be the 13th edition of the Plein Air, and the program details are here.
A week later, i.e. on the weekend of September 8-10, 2023, the Rybnik Foto Festival will be held (for the 20th time!) in nearby Rybnik, whose the program promises to be very interesting.
Just like TIFF Biennale of Photography in Wroclaw, Poland. Supplies - is the slogan of the 12th installment of the TIFF Festival, which returns in a new formula as a biennial of photography. From September 8 to October 8, the main exhibition and three competitive exhibitions of the TIFF Open section will be presented in four locations. The program will be complemented by three days of opening events, as well as in the following weeks: author meetings, guided tours, discussions and concerts.
A week later, on Friday, September 15, we will have the opening of the 8th edition of the Vintage Photo Festival in Bydgoszcz. This year, Vintage will last until September 25, and the the entire program is here.
Even from such a brief description you can see that the end of the summer photographically will be rich and "dense". Let me just remind you that in October we are waiting for Bielsko Biala and Labyrinth in Slubice, but we will write more about it at the end of September. Finally, we would like to remind you that until September 4, 2023 at 11:59 p.m. submissions are being accepted for the first edition of the Poznan Photography Prize, in which multi-photo documentary series can compete. Details can be found here.
