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Michal Cala
Slagheaps, Silesia - Graphic Black and White Landscape, Silver Gelatin Print

About the Item

SLAGHEAPS I, CZERWIONKA, 1978 Unframed Silver Gelatin Print, framing options available 44 x 29 cm/ 17.3 x 11.5 inches approx. From an Edition of 15 + 2 APs, Printed 2005, Hand printed in the traditional darkroom by the Artist (Michał Cała). Series: Silesia Signed and dated 2005 in pencil on verso Shipping: The print would be shipped flat in the print box. ‘I've been photographing workers’ housing, mines and ironworks but the giant slagheaps and the surrounding landscape were always the most surreal subjects for me. The geometric forms of the slagheaps and the contours of the drying sediments created an amazing array of abstract forms. This particular image - Slagheaps I, Czerwionka - won the grand prix at the Polish Landscape Biennale in 1979, beauty of Poland category.’ About the Photographer: Michal Cala was born in Toruń, Poland in 1948 and studied aircraft construction in Warsaw at the University of Technology in the early 1970's. From 1974 to 1983 he worked as an engineer in various companies in Silesia, and began photographing in the area. In 1977, he moved to Tychy in Upper Silesia, where he co-founded the photographers' association KRON and become a member of the ZPAF - the Union of Polish Art Photographers. Publications on his work include The Anthology of Polish Photography 1839 - 1989, The Masters of Polish Landscape and The Polish Photography in the 20th Century. His exhibition Metropolis on Silesian urban landscapes was held at the Silesian Museum in Katowice in 2013 and a solo show Silesia and Galicia in the Museum of History of Photography in 2016 in Krakow (Poland). His photo book based on the same series was recently selected in the Open Submission at Belfast and Athens Photo Festivals respectively (2017). "Resisting a straightforward depiction of the district's fast decline into an industrial wasteland, Cala was able to find poetry in the grim reality of a dark post-war world." - Anna Bonita Evans, Black+White Photography, 2017
  • Creator:
    Michal Cala (1948, Polish)
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 17.33 in (44 cm)Width: 11.42 in (29 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Framing:
    Framing Options Available
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    London, GB
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU1967210956582
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