fotoreporterzy = photojournalists

Poland of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s – ruled by the communist regime – was documented by young photojournalists gathered around the student’s magazine itd (editor’s translation: etc.). Some jokingly called them ‘the kids from itd', but in fact, the group itself could not clearly define its identity. Suffocating under a variety of labels pinned on them from the outside such as ‘sociological photography', ‘humanistic photography' or ‘engaged photo essays', they were ‘just doing their thing'.

An exhibition entitled Fotoreporterzy (Photojournalists) displayed at the Museum of Photography in Kraków was opened four decades after the itd kids' first projects. Among the numerous photographs by Krzysztof Barański, Andrzej Baturo, Sławek Biegański, Stanisław Ciok, Maciej Musiał, Anna Musiałówna, Maciej Osiecki, Krzysztof Pawela, Włodzimierz Pniewski, Andrzej Polec and Harry Weinberg, we chose ten exceptional photographs which present the essence of life in the Polish People’s Republic.