The exhibition shows unattended, destroyed and forgotten aristocratic mansions and noblemen’s manor houses in Lublin Region. Designed by world-renowned architects, they were once vibrant with life and the centre of local events. Today, plundered and often desolate, they fall into ruin, giving mute testimony of the long gone era. Maciej Sztorc’s photographs show not only the beauty of old architecture of Polish nobility, but also the extent of social changes which took place in Poland after World War 2. The extremely expressive analog black-and-white photographs reveal the long-forgotten magnificence of old mansions and noble manor houses in Lublin Region.
Maciej Sztorc was born in 1981 in Lublin. A librarian by education, he takes photographs using the traditional analog technique. His photographs mainly focus on recoding events and architecture, attempting to emphasize the effect of a detail on the entire image. He discovers forgotten and squalid places which make part of the multicultural landscape of Lublin Region. He runs a blog entitled ”pole w kadrze” where he shows photos from his trips.
Exhibitions
2010 – solo exhibition "RetroLublin" (Municipal Public Library in Lublin, Library Branch No. 2)
2010 – collective exhibition "Noc Fotografii" organized by the Lublin Photographers Group as part of the Night of Culture
2010 – permanent exhibition of photographs of Lublin (Provincial Pedagogical Library in Lublin)
2012 – collective exhibition "Srebrem Malowane" (Patio Sztuki, Chatka Żaka Academic Centre of Culture in Lublin)
2013 – exhibition of competition entries in the 9th Open Photography Championship (Municipal Centre of Culture in Olsztyn)
2014 – solo exhibition PE NUN - "Zapomniane kirkuty Lubelszczyzny"
(Grodzka Gate- NN Theatre Centre in Lublin / NN GALLERY)
Publications
2012 – photos for Lucjan Świetlicki’s article "Dwory powiatu świdnickiego," in: Magazyn Powiatowy : wydawnictwo samorządu powiatu świdnickiego, 2011, vol. 20
2012 – photos for a volume of verse by Irena Ciesielska-Piech entitled "Lublin – piękno nieodkryte"
2013 – publication of photos in Ukraiński zaułek literacki vol. 13