Ireneusz Kaźmierczak
He was born in 1955 in Oleśnica, where he graduated from the Teacher Training Technical College. He has been passionate about photography since secondary school. In the 1980s, he worked as an automotive assembly technician in the Passenger Car Company and was also involved in documenting in-company events. Over time, he became a full-time photographer. He is a member of the Silesian Branch of the Association of Polish Photographic Artists. Ireneusz Kaźmierczak portrays small communities in notable moments,everyday life, and city scenes. Not only has he captured the historic concerts of international music stars in Katowice's Spodek Arena and over three decades of the Silesian Guitar Autumn Festival in Tychy (1986-2018), but has also documented many other events, such as Labour Day parades, the Passenger Car Company strike, and the funfair's arrival in one of Tychy’s housing estates. His photographs (as he himself declares) often show things that are no longer around – countries that have been erased from maps, objects that have disappeared from everyday use. On the other hand, he is interested in the emotions that remain universal – the joy of everyday life even during the communist times, or the superhuman effort of an athlete reaching the finish line of a marathon. He has received numerous awards, including those for his sports and documentary photographs. In 2018, the Tychy City Museum came into possession of 70 Kazimierczak’s photographs documenting the city in the 1980s.