Vanishing walls - limestone

Limestone as a building material has been used for centuries and in various regions of the country. For me, buildings and structures made of limestone look most beautiful in the area of the Krakow-Czestochowa Jurassic Highland, fitting into the landscape of limestone rocks, immersed in the Jurassic green, contrasting with the colors of autumn, wrapped in the white of winter. 

Architecture harmonizes with its surroundings and complements the natural landscape. Medieval fortresses, watchtowers and castles, churches and chapels, settlement buildings with residential and farm buildings, industrial buildings, workers' settlement buildings, defensive walls, fences, retaining walls and other numerous examples of interesting architecture. Brick and wood complement stone walls to create interesting architectural compositions. Limestone is not only a structural material, but also decorative, serving as a cladding for facades, as a material of numerous architectural details. In particular, most limestone architecture is indigenous, created by local craftsmen. Their skill and imagination served not only the functions of the object, but often emphasized the individuality of the contractor.  

Jurassic architecture has interested me for a long time. At the turn of 2014/2015, I took my first series of photos, in color and with a digital camera.The subject interests me and continues to draw me in, tempted by the need to document because of the observed changes that are taking place. Limestone architecture is disappearing from the landscape. Buildings and structures are plastered, covered with siding, insulated with Styrofoam. A significant part of them, uninhabited, not exploited, is falling apart, forming ruins, overgrown by vegetation over time. Some of the stone buildings are demolished and disappear irretrievably. The landscape of Jura is constantly changing.

So I document the buildings and structures that still exist, this time with the help of a 4×5 inch large format camera on black and white analog materials. I search in the field for interesting objects and their ruins, trying to photograph in specific weather conditions (rain, snow,wind, etc.), sometimes trying to look through the eyes of "another", such as infrared photography. I compare changes in the appearance of objects depending on the weather and the film used.

Photographing disappearing walls arouses in me a sense of loss, opposition and a misunderstanding of the reasons why we do not try to preserve architectural heritage. I experienced the senseless destruction of industrial architecture in Upper Silesia, where architecturally interesting buildings of former industrial plants were demolished. Fortunately, photographs of these objects remain, as many photographers document the reality. I also have a small part in this. 

The observation that the disappearance of objects in time and space cannot be stopped triggers in me the need for a documentary approach, associated with the aesthetics called "deadpan" (the word is translated into Polish in various ways, as unemotional aesthetics, dull photography, "zero" photography, styleless photography, quiet and calm photography, etc.), it also means that I have to get rid of my own emotions in favor of trying to objectively represent reality, which of course does not invalidate the author's representation of it. 

The word "deadpan" itself, meaning dead (poker) face, has been used to describe human actions in sports or the arts (film, theater) for more than 100 years. It is not known who first used the term in reference to photography, but it probably referred to photographs by Edward Rush or Lewis Baltz. For most of us, however, the term is associated with the photographs of the couple Bernd and Hilla Becher. Their students at the Duesseldorf Art Academy developed this kind of aesthetic, each in their own way. Charlotte Cotton, in her book "Photography as Contemporary Art," discusses and gives numerous examples of the implementation of deadpan aesthetics by a wide range of artists. The topic of deadpan aesthetics is interesting and occupying contemporary critics and artists. On the Internet you can find many current texts devoted to this aesthetics, undergraduate theses, doctoral theses, journalistic studies (Marcin Klimek, Jan Rogalo, Anna Carey, Viktoria Musk, Peter Lančariča and others). I even encountered the claim that the vast majority of contemporary photographs presented in galleries and museums are made in this aesthetic (Mark Durden).

For me personally, deadpan aesthetics is ordinary photography devoid of artistic exaggeration, sentiment and subjectivity. Aesthetics, allowing to take up a modest subject (limestone walls) in an ordinary way, by showing the current reality, allowing to ask questions usually unnoticed (why these walls are disappearing). An important feature of such a photograph, for me, is its great clarity and detail, so that the viewer can curiously and independently investigate how things depicted in the photograph are doing. Especially if the photograph is in large size and the details are clearly visible. The use of a large-format camera therefore has its justification. For me, trying to represent reality objectively is a question of whether objectivity is noticeable in the morning light, on a cloudy day or in the full light of the midday sun. What effect do weather conditions have on objective perception? A limestone wall looks different when wet with torrential rain, different when covered with the frost of a sulfurous frost, different when it is completely dry... and which of these images is objective, and which one I would like to present to the viewer to arouse his emotions without suggesting my own. Will rejecting color, in favor of black and white photography bring me closer to objectivity? Will the use of infrared photography, a radiation inaccessible to human vision, present a different world, more objective, or will it only be an unnecessary aestheticization of photography? I would like the created set of photographs not to be read only as a series (typological series), but that each photograph could be a separate story, a story of the depicted object. 

In 2023, within the framework of a creative grant from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, I am carrying out a project entitled "Disappearing walls - limestone". 

Certainly, eventually and creatively, I will resolve all the questions that bother me. 

The project is ongoing.

Janusz Wojcieszak (born in 1950) - Polish artist photographer, honored with the title of Artiste FIAP(AFIAP) and Excellence FIAP (EFIAP). Associate Member Photoclub of the Republic of Poland. Member of the Silesian District Union of Polish Artists Photographers. Member of the Silesian District Union of Polish Wildlife Photographers. Mhe lives and works in Mysłowice, has been photographing since 1965. In the 1970s, he worked with student (technical) magazines as a photojournalist. He mainly photographs landscape, landscape, nature, architecture. He is a co-organizer and participant in many (mainly nature) photo plein-airs. In 2007 he was accepted as a member of the Union of Polish Wildlife Photographers (card no. 3024), where he is currently a member of the Audit Committee of the Silesian District^[4][7]. In 2016, he became a member of the Silesian District of the Union of Polish Artists Photographers (ID No. 1166). 

Janusz Wojcieszak is the author and co-author of many photographic exhibitions; individual, collective, post-air, post-competition. He actively participated in the International Photo Salons, (among others) organized under the auspices of FIAP, winning many medals, prizes, awards, diplomas, nominations for awards and congratulatory letters. The aftermath of his participation in the International Photo Salons (under the auspices of FIAP) was the awarding to him (in 2015) of the honorary title of Artiste FIAP (AFIAP) and (in 2017) of the title of Excellence FIAP (EFIAP) - titles conferred by the International Federation of Photographic Art FIAP, based in Luxembourg. (Wikipedia)

Photo by Janusz Wojcieszak from the series Vanishing walls - limestone