BUSZA’S PHOTOGRAPHS
We learn to talk about others early on in primary school, when we start to evaluate decisions and attitudes of characters from texts, simple stories or first school readings. With time our innocent judgement gradually changes into tasteless common gossiping. Alternately, it grows in generosity, balances in cultural this-and-that, disguises itself in philosophy and gains richness – all thanks to carefully selected words. The line between gossip and constructive criticism is often rather thin and one needs to be an exceptional gourmet not to turn delicacies into fast-word (since food and words belong to the same palatal arena such a comparison is easy to digest).
Has anybody heard about Andrzej Pawłowski? Not long ago I attended a lecture on this artist and photographer. The lecture was 80% anecdotal, gently gossipy. When asked why he does not eat salads but instead moves them to the far end of the table, he said that working in the garden for a long time had made him realize that the biggest influence on the growth and development of each plant came from those planted next to them, as they mutually determined one another’s shape and size. Asked why he does not attend church, he admitted that when being an altar boy, he discovered, to his horror, casual trousers “showing beneath” the priest’s cassock. Perhaps he had hoped that the cassock was a lampshade of sorts, and the rest was only light and nothing more… I started with Pawłowski in order to move on to the reflections on the meaning of the so-called “anecdotes.” It’s amazing how easy it is sometimes is to smuggle a whole philosophy of life inside a short story with a merry and surprising punchline.
The last issue of the photographic magazine “Camera Obscura” [1 (7) 2008] was entirely devoted to Jerzy Busza (1947-1997), a poet and an eminent art critic. He was the author of significant to the theory of photography books: About Photography (Wobec fotografii), About Photographers (Wobec fotografów), About Photography Receivers (Wobec odbiorców fotografii). An exhibition entitled “Random in Radom” and organized in Radom to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the artist’s death became a pretext for releasing this monographic issue. First two articles published in the magazine concern the above-mentioned exhibit, the main part of the issue includes Jerzy Busza’s private letters to Sławomir Magala (collected in two series: Busza 10 years later (Busza 10 lat później) and Busza for the second time
(Busza po raz drugi); the final text (The Multiple Faces of Busza / Busza nie jedno ma imię) written by Jerzy Busza himself is also well-worth reading.
ABOUT JERZY BUSZA ART FESTIVAL
The festival for which Busza’s friends from Poland and all over the world arrived, took place at the Museum of Modern Art in Radom (14-15 December 2007). As we read in the article About Jerzy Busza Art Festival (O festiwalu sztuki im. Jerzego Buszy) by Mieczysław Szewczuk, the exhibition consisted of two parts: the first organized by the artist’s friends, was largely devoted to Busza’s private profile; the second part was made up of photos selected by a curator, which included those by Polish professional photographers about whom Busza had written in the past. Authors of the photographs displayed included among others: Tadeusz Rolka, Zygmunt Rytka, Józef Robakowski, Themersons, Beksiński – all of their works represented Busza. During the preview, Jerzy Lewczyński an expert in the field of photography) began with a speech, followed by Paweł Kwaśniewski’s performance entitled “How beautiful it is here when the sun is shining on the beach” („Jak tu pięknie gdy słońce w plażę parzy”). Szewczuk scrupulously mentions by name the artists who participated in the festival: including the curator and Busza’s best friend from the Radom days – Leszek Golec.
The article does not contain any critical comments aimed at the exhibition itself or its central figure. These can only be found in the text About Jerzy Busza (Wobec Jerzego Buszy) by Adam Mazur. The author claims that photographs from the first part of the exhibit had been selected very chaotically from different periods of Busza’s life. Additionally, he believes those photos to be a depiction of both material and physical moral decay rather than mythologization...
In this context, in Mazur’s view, Busza can be considered a patron of Radom (where he spent the last years of his life). Apart from that, Mazur believed it would be far more interesting to dust off Busza’s drawings and letters, since the photographs had already been presented publicly in FF Gallery. The curator Leszek Golec, however, based his narrative on intuition and for this reason he did not arrange the exposition according to any logical rules, neither could he himself explain the rules underlying the exhibit. Mazur claims that a viewer leaves the exhibition unsatisfied and lacking understanding, despite having seen so many images (photos) on display.
I have to admit that both texts irritated me because once again I realized that due to poor advertising and promotion it is much easier for me to reach somebody else’s criticism after the fact than to judge important events by myself. In the case of Busza, whose exhibition lasted till 31st January 2008, my own opinion could be formed only by hearing out somebody else’s opinion or – even worse – somebody else’s opinion based on an opinion of third parties.
BUSZA’S LETTERS TO MALAGA
When I read fragments of letters with a more or less implied context (or even without it) I am likely to fall into a trap of coming up with my own context. For those who know a lot about Busza’s works and theories, theses published letters may be a tasty morsel, since they reveal the very intimate, uncensored areas of his reflections. In those letters, Busza presents his then-current reflections (from 1987) on “Photography” magazine – very poor, according to him, since all the reputable authors had either emigrated or died. Moreover, we can read what was his opinion on a provocative photographer, Helmut Newton, who, according to Busza, took photos only for trivial reasons.
A large part of this collection of letters is a hearty response to Sławomir Malaga’s correspondence (thus, to his views and works as well). He uses the term “hermeneutics of photography,” a theory, the creation (or rather the invention) of which the author describes in a very emotional way. Obviously, the feeling of excitement is shared by the reader. However, after googling up this intriguing term it turns out that… we haven’t moved with our knowledge even one step further. There is not even one monograph or any book in which at least the facts from Busza’s life would be ordered, not to mention – his critical activity.
Busza also presents his opinion on the significance of Polish photography in the world (its position is poor, peripheral and “not exotic enough to be looked at »with interest«”). Information provided in these few letters available for the readers seems to be as randomly selected as the photographs chosen for the exhibition. I was under a positive impression of Busza’s brilliance and his lively style which encourage to further reading and searching on one’s own. I was happy then to find in “Camera Obscura” Busza’s article – a more coherent one with a clear beginning and end, not disturbed by emotionally-private issues.
THE MULTIPLE FACES OF BUSZA
The “Photography” magazine obliged the author to choose five best Polish photographs – quite a risky task when taking into consideration one hundred and fifty years of Polish photography. That is why in a significant part of his article (The Multiple Faces of Busza / Busza nie jedno ma imię) Busza mainly explains his problematic choice and admits it is impossible to make it fully objective. For instance, he asks how we should know that Jan Bułhak is a better photographer than an amateur photographer from Grodno. He shows how difficult it is to justify well his choices in a scientific manner, how easy it is to avoid the risk and repeat thoughtlessly after his predecessors – art historians, most often.
Finally, the author states that there are at least three versions of him: Busza shaped by proper artistic tradition; the one formed by low culture and the last one – the so-called “potential artist.” Which and whose photos does he mention among best photographs after such a self-presentation? The Works of Walery Rzewuski and Józef Robakowski fall into the first category; into the second – a photo of his mother taken at the end of the 1920s in “Photo-Mimosa” (“Foto-Mimoza”) in Łódź. The last category includes Marek Holzman and various banned images, i.e. taken in spite of a clear ban during the regime.
What is particularly advantageous in the case of “Camera Obscura” is that every issue focuses on one leading topic instead of touching on everything and nothing at the same time. Each edition is devoted to one author, reminding the reader of his/her legacy and encouraging to get acquainted with his/her re-discovered works, which could so easily, and so undeservedly, be forgotten.
Magdalena Galas
Translated by Karolina Zydek