Celina Osiecka: Photography Services
Photographer Celina Osiecka is the author of thousands of portraits of Varsovians and Warsaw residents. In 1968, she was awarded the title of Master of the Craft in photography and went on to open her own business, which she continues to run to this day. From 14 May, Celina Osiecka's photographs can be seen not only in the shop on Zwycięzców Street in Saska Kępa, but also in the Museum of Warsaw's Praga district.
Celina Osiecka still uses analogue working methods. She exposes the images of her clients and customers on black and white negatives, which she then chemically processes in the darkroom. Finally, she retouches them using a traditional pencil method. As a result, each print made at the workshop is unique. In the past, she used to take photographs for documents and special occasions, but now mainly takes commemorative photographic portraits. The exhibition features photographs from the archive of Celina Osiecka's workshop taken between 1962 and 2022, selected from thousands of alphabetically arranged negatives and prints. Alongside portrait and occasional photography, the exhibition takes a closer look at the craft aspect of the photographer's work – the pencil retouching technique and the original folders prepared for the journeyman's exam. Photos from Celina Osiecka's family album, meanwhile, show the history of the workshop itself and the changing reality around it.
The exhibition Celina Osiecka. Photographic Services is not only a presentation of the silhouette of an exceptional Varsovian. It is also a document of half a century of the history of the photographic craft. A testimony to the changes that have taken place in the field of photography, in culture, fashion and customs. The curator of the exhibition, Antonina Gugała, met Celina Osiecka during the artistic project Warsaw Photographer. At that time, she visited 102 photographic studios in the capital, in each of which she commissioned her portraits – photographs for her diploma. She also photographed the shop windows of more than 80 establishments and learned about their history. Her meeting with Celina Osiecka was the beginning of a closer acquaintance and resulted in an exhibition devoted to the photographer and an accompanying book.
