Mala Gallery
8, Zamkowy Sq., Warsaw (Old Town)
June 8 - July 9, 2004
Marek Po¼niak i Przemys³aw Zajfert:
Camera Obscura Berlin - Stuttgart
Marek Po¼niak i Przemys³aw Zajfert: Camera Obscura Berlin - Stuttgart,
exhibition in Mala Gallery, Warsaw, June-July 2004CAMERA OBSCURA - a photographic project of Marek Po¼niak and Przemek Zajfert is based on the more and more popular simple principle of pinhole photography, technique whose sources can be traced to the beginnings of photography.
Zajfert makes an exposure with a "camera" constructed of empty box of photographic paper with adequately drilled holes and a film inside by uncovering one hole in Stuttgart. After that he sends the device by mail to Berlin, where Po¼niak on his part makes additional exposure on the same piece of film by opening the second hole. They print the image obtained this way on photographic paper. It is their combined record. The subjects registered by the artists refer to themselves and their environment. Therefore on these pictures - although they were created without traditional lens equipped camera - we can see self-portraits of the photographers and fragments of the cities they live in. Undoubtedly pictures made this way are a kind of an impression rather than distinct documentary registration. They have mysterious, dreamy atmosphere; despite these are contemporary works they are suggesting an aura of the past and are putting aside informational and documentary value usually attributed to photography. Moreover, they are a sort of artistic dialogue, or rather a play which sometimes yields unexpected results. This moment of final surprise - neither of the photographers have idea what his partner did - additionally enhances impact of individual photographs. This way a kind of mutual game is created - the game in which the main role is played by the Light which intensifies visual depth of particular photographs and emphasizes their rich, multi-plotted structure.
The works of Marek Po¼niak and Przemek Zajfert are just another evidence that photography still has potentials somewhat forgotten in the times of expeditious development of imaging technology. Camera Obscura - a light-tight box - there is nothing simpler than that...
Marek Grygiel
Warsaw, May 17th, 2004.
Marek Po¼niak i Przemys³aw Zajfert: Camera Obscura Berlin - Stuttgart,
exhibition in Mala Gallery, Warsaw, June-July 2004
Marek Po¼niak i Przemys³aw Zajfert: Camera Obscura Berlin - Stuttgart,
exhibition in Mala Gallery, Warsaw, June-July 2004
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