By Michal Cala
Located in London, GB
"Forest at the bottom of the Slagheaps", Walbrzych, Silesia, Poland, 1978
Silver Gelatin Print, Signed and dated in pencil on verso
Printed in 2008 by the Photographer, hand printed darkroom print.
17 3/10 × 12 1/5 in
44 × 31 cm
50 x 37 cm paper size with white border , 44 x 31 cm (image size)
"My fascination started when I first saw industrial centres of Upper and Lower Silesia,’ says Cała. ‘The landscape was terrifying and beautiful at the same time. It did not change for the whole period from the 19th century to the end of communism in Poland." - Michal Cala
Exhibition frame as seen on additional picture available upon request - please contact gallery for further details or purchase unframed print with a free shipping worldwide.
About the Artist:
"Cala become relatively well known in Poland but he is still little known in the West, despite the fact that his work bears comparison with masters such as Bill Brandt and Robert Frank."
- Bill Kouwenhoven, British Journal of Photography, 2007
Michal Cala was born in Toruń, Poland in 1948 and studied aircraft construction in Warsaw at the University of Technology in the early 1970's. From 1974 to 1983 he worked as an engineer in various companies in Silesia, and began photographing in the area. In 1977, he moved to Tychy in Upper Silesia, where he co-founded the photographers' association KRON and become a member of the ZPAF - the Union of Polish Art Photographers.
Relatively unknown outside of his native country, his work is in several museum collections in Poland; in the Silesian Museum of Katowice, the Silesian Library in Katowice, the Upper Silesian Museum in Bytom, the Coal Mining Museum in Zabrze as well as local government building in Duisburg in the Ruhr (Germany) and MAST Foundation (Bologna) and various international private collections. His work has received much acclaim and won numerus awards; among which are the Grand Prix at the Polish Landscape...
Category
1970s Contemporary Michal Cala Photography