Czesław Olszewski (1894-1969) was one of the most outstanding Polish architectural photographers, co-founder of the Syndicate of Photojournalists of the Republic of Poland, and lecturer in photography. He captured the modernisation of the Polish state in the 1930s and its reconstruction after World War II on several thousand negatives. Photo album available in our bookstore →
The bilingual Polish-English edition of Seeing the Cityscape. Czesław Olszewski’s photography is filled with photographs selected by Prof. Marta Leśniakowska and photographer Tomasz Kubaczyk. One of the contributors to the publication, Karolina Andrzejewska-Batko, wrote: “Czesław Olszewski left a huge legacy, which is one of the most invaluable sources not only for researchers of the history of photography, but also of architecture and socio-economic changes. Changes that took place in the interwar period, as well as after 1945 when the country was rebuilt from post-war destruction. His work is a fascinating photographic documentation, showing the history of Poland through the history of architecture”.
Based on Olszewski’s pictures, we can trace several decades of the development of Polish architecture: from art déco to functionalism from the 1930s, to socialist realism and post-war modernism. The album features works of many great architects, including Zdzisław Mączeński, Juliusz Żórawski, Bohdan Pniewski and Romuald Gutt. Olszewski was interested in new architectural phenomena and documented them eagerly, creating at the same time his own language of modernist photography.
Concept and photo selection: Marta Leśniakowska, Tomasz Kubaczyk
Descriptions: Marta Leśniakowska, Karolina Andrzejewska-Batko
Pre-press: Tomasz Kubaczyk
