“Light and Silver” – Exhibition of Historical Photographic Techniques

Residents of Paris and tourists visiting the French capital have recently had an opportunity to admire outstanding works of a well-known Vistula University lecturer, artist photographer Grzegorz Ostrowski. The exhibition took place at the gallery Le bonheur est dans l’instant, located at 72 Rue Amelot, presenting artists who base their works on a variety of analog, historical, and noble techniques.

The timing of the exhibition was intentional as November is traditionally dedicated in France to photography. It is the time when Paris hosts its annual “PARIS PHOTO” presentation, featuring works from around 700 photography galleries worldwide.

The “Light and Silver” exhibition was organized by Polish photographers who invited distinguished European artists to present their works. Besides Grzegorz Ostrowski, the artists included Arek Akki, Anne Iris, Monika Cichoszewska, JM Delage, Silvano Magnone, Mariusz Mykicki, Maciej Pastuszka, Konrad Pollesch, Axel Schneegaß, Ana Tornel, Małgorzata Warmińska, and Maximilian Zeitler.

The original, handcrafted and framed photographs were created using silver-based techniques and other light-sensitive salts. Techniques showcased included wet collodion, gum bichromate, Van Dyke brown, cyanotype, lith printing, and Polaroid.

Grzegorz Ostrowski’s specialty are alternative photographic techniques. Ostrowski, together with Łukasz Gietka, co-founded the Institute of Noble Photographic Techniques. He has led workshops in alternative photographic techniques at the History Meeting House, the Museum of Warsaw, the National Museum of Technology, and the Warsaw Fotoplastikon. Ostrowski has also co-organized exhibitions and photography competitions, participated in group exhibitions dedicated to archaic photographic techniques, and contributed to auctions of pictorialist photography. His professional experience extends to advertising photography for international agencies, and he has taught large-format and archaic photographic techniques at the Photography Study of the Association of Polish Art Photographers, the European Academy of Photography, and the Warsaw School of Photography.

His works have been exhibited in Paris, Geneva, and Warsaw. When asked about his credo, he says: “I present my vision of the world not merely for the sake of presentation, but to provide myself with images and actions through which my spirituality can be better expressed and understood.”

For years, he has shared his unique knowledge and valuable experience with students of Vistula University.