Wakacje w mieście (Holiday in the city)
The title seems trivial, light and pleasant, if it was not for the circumstances and the place chosen by the author for her photographic story. A small area between Trzebnicka, Jagielończyka and Myśliwska Streets called Downtown is a place famous for high crime rates made famous by a song Klaus Mitffoch from Lech Janerki. A quotation comes to mind – “Beware of those places”, but should it be this way? All larger cities in Poland have dark alleys with streets, gates and yards which should be avoided. Does a place itself cause that all the residents of such districts should be considered to be dregs of society, and children – to be children of the street? I do not believe so.
When I spoke with the author about her exhibition in Galeria Obok, seeing what content she wanted to show me, naturally my first association was a reportage by Adam Lach who several years earlier also photographed children from the Wrocław Triangle. Therefore, I expected to see equally dark, harsh and depressing content. None of the sort! Photographs by Agnieszka are nothing like typical press content. They were deprived of unnecessary dramaturgy, tension, additives enriching the photographic story. The author focused all her attention on children and childhood – spent probably not in the friendliest environment, however all this was presented by her with a lot of warmth and affection towards her little subjects of interest.
I was thinking whether this photographic approach resulted from her feminine vision and attitude towards childhood, or from the fact that she photographed children from her neighbourhood, pried through the window at a nearby backyard? Or maybe because Agnieszka herself is a resident of Downtown and the surroundings with broken windows and scratched walls did not make any impression on her?
It does not change the fact that sensations caused in me by Agnieszka’s photographs reminded me of a cycle of photographs “Mały człowiek” by Zofia Rydet who photographed children in similar scenery, however at a different time and circumstances. Despite the gap of many generations between both authors, there is something common in these photographs – something that can be defined as a humanistic approach to the subject and photography itself.
As despite the modesty of scenery and impression of poverty, Agnieszka Prusak treats the characters in her photographs with respect, without stripping them of their dignity and without unnecessary manipulation of the content. Photographs oscillate between portraits and images caught during games. Smeared and shabby walls of townhouses, carton boxes, a carpet-beating stand, a sandpit constitute the background… Anna Wolska Galeria Obok ZPAF Warszawa 2010 Poland
3. Blow Up Magnification
Photographs of inmates of Prison No. 1 in Wrocław sentenced to long sentences, including life imprisonment.
The world behind bars is not presented as an exotic space causing curiosity due to its inaccessibility and mystery; the purpose was to motivate people living freely to take a look in the mirror.
Walking along the streets of the district I live in, I reached the prison. It was accidental. Looking though my lens, I suddenly saw a large window, bars, walls, huge building, one wall behind another wall, and in the window, I saw smiling people. It was an incredible experience for me, these eyes and joy? How is it possible as this place does not promote smiling. Then, I thought that I would like to take photos of them, look into their eyes, see how they live, what is the meaning of it all. At that time, it seemed unattainable, inaccessible...before I got inside the prison and then inside particular cells, a lot of time passes both there and here. I was struggling with my thoughts whether I will be able to cope with the challenge, whether I am able to look into those eyes full of suffering. I asked myself numerous questions. But when I got inside, more and more, with each coming day I could not deal with the sadness brought by each minute spent with them.
People asked me why I wanted to go there, that it is dangerous, that they are monkeys not human being. Is that true? I do not ask myself these questions any more, but I ask each and every one of us to look inside ourselves. The walls we are creating are walls which divide all of us…let us not multiply them… My objects are alive, they breathe and feel. They have time. Do we have time? I was taking photographs in the prison for approximately 11 months and my baggage got bigger.
Blow Up is a magnification, magnification in the form of a gallery, feeling, the daily struggle with a sense of guilt, with oneself, magnification in loneliness, magnification until you reach the limit….