Grażyna Rutowska is a renowned artist and photographer who was one of the most important figures in the world of photojournalism in the 1970s. Known for her extraordinary talent in capturing beauty in everyday moments, she subtly combined the play of light and shadow with a unique approach to composition. Her archive contains nearly 40,000 photos! All the photographs presented at the exhibition come from the collections of the National Digital Archives. Rutowska completed photo reports in nearly 500 towns across the country, documenting practically all aspects of life in the People’s Republic of Poland. Her photographs depict both the great investments of the Gierek decade and everyday life, entertainment, sports, leisure, and the contrasts between the cities and villages of that era. Rutowska was a car enthusiast and a member of PZMot (Polish Automobile and Motorcycle Federation). Behind the wheel of her Fiat 125p, she covered a total of 400,000 kilometres. She methodically described the photographs she took, collected press clippings with her published photos, and even entire issues of magazines – one could say she was not only a photographer but also an archivist.

Łukasz Karolewski, a curator at the National Digital Archives, will talk about this exceptional artist, whose works will be displayed at the exhibition in The Hartwig Alley.

Łukasz Karolewski , a graduate of the Institute of History at the University of Warsaw, specialises in the history of the Polish People’s Republic (PRL) as well as the history of science and technology. Since joining the National Digital Archives (NAC) in 2012, he has been instrumental in developing the Grażyna Rutowska Photographic Archive and collaborating on publications featuring photographs from the NAC collection. Karolewski’s true passion lies in the identification of photographs, particularly those depicting urban architecture, technical equipment, and military hardware, with a specific focus on radio technology, railways, aviation, and firearms. He not only employs but also actively advances crowdsourcing methods, collaborating with a diverse group of users to analyze shared archival resources. Additionally, he is committed to refining methods for both internal and external criticism of photographic sources.

Publications:
Propagandowe techniki ukrywania katastrofy w Czarnobylu przez władze polskie [w:] „Dzieje Najnowsze” R. 43 z. 2 (2011),
Od radowego szaleństwa do radiofobii [w:] Foton nr 127 (2014),
PRL Grażyny Rutowskiej – Fotografie z Narodowego Archiwum Cyfrowego, Warszawa 2015.