Lenin i karpie żywe. Fotografie krakowskich witryn sklepowych Jana Motyki z lat 60. XX w. ze zbiorów Muzeum Fotografii w Krakowie na tle świadectw epoki
Lenin and living carps. Jan Motyka’s photographs of 1960s Cracovian shop windows in the collection of the Museum of Photography in Krakow against the background of the testimonies of the epoch

Summary/Abstract: The paper is focused on the analysis of Cracovian shop windows decorated for important national holidays: 1 May and 22 July during the 1960s. They were taken by Jan Motyka. The discussed photographs are held in the collection of the Museum of Photography in Krakow and constitute a valuable historical resource for the research on the Polish People’s Republic period. The paper discusses their uniqueness and unsuccessful attempts to exhibit them during the times of the Polish People’s Republic. The analysis was based on visual material, from which the reality of the epoch was deduced (i.a. absurd slogans, disproportionate to the living conditions, idealised image of the country and its leaders, as well as the antisemitic campaign of 1968). The character of these photographs is a mixture of the atmosphere of absurd and resignation. They show the hidden layer of history. They present the image of the Polish People’s Republic which was close to the human, his matters and the way they perceive the world and the system. The paper underlines that such applied visual language remains a novelty in the narrative of the Polish People’s Republic era and fills an important gap existing in the research on this period of modern Polish history.

• Details
• Contents