unusual perspectives. What made Sudek’s photo-
graphy distinctive from other photography of the
time was his preoccupation with subjective themes.
Even when the occupation of the Nazis brought
Czech cultural life to a halt, he continued to work
in his studio, using its window as either back-
ground or foreground for his works.
In Poland after World War II, as the Soviet
Union extended its influence over that country, it
was the hope in artistic circles that artists would be
able to practice and develop without the constraints
of authoritarian rule. In 1946, the National Mu-
seum in Warsaw held an exhibition of Bulhak’s
photographs titledRuiny Warszawy(The Ruins of
Warsaw). In 1947, Bulhak and Leonard Sempo-
linski founded the Polish Union of Art Photogra-
phers (Polski Zwiazek Artystow Fotografow). At
first, the union continued the experimentations with
techniques and subject matter in the tradition of the
Polish photo clubs, but soon it was forced to adopt
the political directives of Communist Poland.
Within Socialist Realism, there were three main
trends—classical, pictorial, and documentary pho-
tography. In Poland, some of the most interesting
documentary images, based on the experiences
of the Magnum Photos group and influenced by
French photography of the period, were created
for an illustrated weeklySwiat(World), published
from 1951 to 1969, which focused on humanistic
photo reporting. Another important publication
was the monthlyPolska(Poland), the first to pub-
lish color photographs. The photographers asso-
ciated with these publications, and also with
Razem(Together) andPerspektywy(Perspectives),
were critical of ‘‘propaganda of success.’’ Polish
documentary photography was comprehensively
showcased in 1980, in Bielsko-Biala at an event
consisting of eight separate exhibitions under one
heading:Polish Sociological Photography Review.
Experimental photography continued through-
out the decades that Poland was under Communist
rule. For example, in the late 1950s, Zdzislaw Bek-
sinski (who was also an abstract painter), Jerzy
Lewczynski, and Bronislaw Schlabs (also a fabric
painter) worked in a style that alluded to the work
of the interwar avant-garde. Themost important
show featuring works by those in this informal
group was an underground exhibition titledAnty-
fotografia (Anti-Photography). In the late 1950s
and 1960s, Edward Hartwig (1909–2003) developed
a graphics-like style that blended pictorial and
modernist traditions. His work influenced many
other Polish photographers, particularly in the
field of landscape photography. In the 1960s,
photographic Modernism was less popular as pho-
tojournalism developed. This trend was influenced
by the success of Edward Steichen’s exhibition
organized in New York for the Museum of Modern
Art,The Family of Man, which appeared in Warsaw
in 1959.
The thaw that took place in the Soviet Union
during the Khrushchev years (1958–1964) meant
more freedom for the arts, especially for photo-
graphers. Fairly widely available by that time, me-
chanical cameras were used by both amateurs and
professionals to explore the once-forbidden sub-
jects of nudes, landscapes, and character studies.
Most art photography was created by amateurs,
who often met in clubs that allowed for the ex-
change of ideas and for the trading of costly,
hard-to-obtain equipment.
The 1960s brought dramatic change of political
climate to Czechoslovakia as well. Josef Koudelka
(1938–) was working as a theatre photographer and
was documenting the life of gypsies in Slovakia in
the mid-1960s when in 1968 Russian tanks invaded
Prague. His images of the first days of the occupa-
tion, photographs that he managed to smuggle
from the country, became well known internation-
ally. In the 1970s, Koudelka was awarded asylum
in England. Since then, he has worked as a photo-
grapher in numerous countries. Koudelka could
renew his work in his homeland only after the
change of political climate in the late 1980s.
The two collective exhibitionsFotografia Subiek-
tywna(Subjective Photography) in 1968 andPhoto-
graphers Exploringin 1971 signified a breakthrough
in Polish photography when many artists moved to
experimental film, installations, photo sequences,
and video art. The photomedia groupPermafo
(1970–1980) included Zbigniew Dłubak, Natalia
LL (Lachowicz), and Andrzej Lachowicz and ex-
plored the role and significance through the med-
ium of photography. Natalia LL also created
feminist art in the 1970s. In the 1980s, her work
became influenced by Existentialism and included
religious subtexts. This highly experiment, multi-
media work was encouraged by the important Pol-
ish critic, curator, and theorist Jerzy Olek.
The martial law declared on December 13, 1981
brought about the closing of many galleries and
exhibition venues, and many photographers and
other artists who used photographic techniques in
their work emigrated at this time. The imposition
of this law brought an end to Polish photomedial-
ism, whose last significant show titled,Construction
in Process, took place in Ło ́dz ́in 1981.
After the initial shock, Polish culture went under-
ground. From 1984 on, however, cultural life gra-
dually revived. The first art group to take up theRUSSIA AND EASTERN EUROPE, PHOTOGRAPHY IN