Arkadiusz Gola. Borderline States – photographs

The exhibition presents works of Arkadiusz Gola, recipient of numerous awards won in contests such as The Polish Press Photography Competition, the PRESS PHOTO BZ WKB competition, the International Triennial of Architecture and the Grand Press Photo competition. He is a press photographer who has been working for "Polska Dziennik Zachodni" in Katowice. The exhibition is a retrospection of 20 years of his work.

The photographs presented in the Museum of History of Photography in Kraków are documents set in the contemporary circumstances of life in Silesia. The photographer explores various social backgrounds and places thus coming up with a collective portrait of social groups whose life is closely related to the surroundings that model them and the ever-changing shape of industry in Upper Silesia. The pictures are the artist's personal reflections, a multi-plot story of people who reside on the outskirts of cities, far from city centres and main streets. Life is slow there, among the old houses and in the backyards of working class districts, on slag heaps that border on residential areas or in the shadow of ruins of old factories. The photographer has been able to find there an unfathomable source of inspiration.

Opening 3 February 2012, noon; to 11 March 2012.