September 12 – October 13
The 10th edition of the Vintage Photo Festival – the International Festival for Analog Photography Enthusiasts – will address this question.
- One of the oldest and largest festivals dedicated to analog photography in Europe.
- Exhibition by legendary French model and photographer Sarah Moon
- Special guest Magdalena Wosinska, one of the most acclaimed young photographers in the USA
- Exhibition of photos by Agnieszka Osiecka
- Meet & Mix conference with representatives from analog photography festivals worldwide (including Australia, Mexico, Spain, Germany, Portugal, Italy)
- Rich program of accompanying events: workshops, film screenings, meetings with artists, around 40 events in total
- Main festival venue at the Leon Wyczółkowski District Museum’s Gallery of Modern Art (8 Mennica Street, Bydgoszcz)
Contemporary and historical facets of analog photography: the 10th anniversary edition of the Vintage Photo Festival in Bydgoszcz. The city boasts rich photographic traditions and contemporary efforts to rediscover analog photography. For decades, it produced the famous Foton Brom papers for black-and-white photography, used by Polish artists for their work. Bydgoszcz attracts enthusiasts from around the world, nostalgic for old photography. Over the past year and a half, around 15 billion images have been created with AI, roughly the same number as photos taken in the first 150 years of photography. AI’s presence is also seen in photography competitions. Despite this, there’s a growing trend for analog photography, experiencing a renaissance thanks to digital advancements. This year’s festival theme is “Heritage” encompassing the legacy of traditional photography techniques, photographic archives, and concepts shaping contemporary trends, provoking reflection on preserving heritage amid rapidly developing technologies.
SARAH MOON | MAGDALENA WOSINSKA | AGNIESZKA OSIECKA | JAGODA PRZYBYLAK | GRZEGORZ PRZYBOREK | ZOFIA KULIK | JÓZEF ROBAKOWSKI | KATARZYNA KOZYRA | ANDRZEJ RÓŻYCZKI | NATALIA LL | TADEUSZ WAŃSKI | LISEN STIBECK
The 10th Vintage Photo Festival features big names, as befits an anniversary edition. In collaboration with the Rezo Agency, the exhibition “The Red Thread” from the Fotografiska Museum in Stockholm will be showcased in Bydgoszcz. Sarah Moon, who started her career as a model, quickly moved behind the camera, becoming an icon of photography. She has created for renowned fashion houses like Dior, Yohji Yamamoto, Chanel, Comme des Garçons, and Cacharel. At the festival’s opening gala, she will receive the “Golden Roll” award for her lifetime achievements.
Another must-see exhibition is Magdalena Wosinska’s “Fulfill The Dream” As one of the special guests, Wosinska is a highly regarded photographer in the USA, primarily working with film since the start of her career. She has collaborated with major stars like Helen Mirren, George Clooney, Ben Affleck, and Joaquin Phoenix. The festival highlights contemporary artists who use traditional photographic techniques. Each year, finalists of the Vintage Grand Prix competition, which showcases the latest trends in analog photography, present their work. Past finalists will also display their projects, such as Katarzyna Kryńska’s “Limfa,” awarded at the 20th Julia Margaret Cameron Award, who experiments with 19th-century photographic processes. Iwona Germanek will show her latest series “Scent,” combining photographic archives with her painting techniques.
The Swedish artist Lisen Stibeck’s exhibition “Interwoven Visions,” presented at the Dimbola Museum for the 30th anniversary of opening Victorian photographer Julia Margaret Cameron’s home to the public, will be featured. Stibeck uses both traditional and modern photographic techniques, exploring universal female experiences and dreamy realities.
An outdoor exhibition will appear in the city. A mobile Fotoplastikon on the Old Town Square will showcase archival photographs of Bydgoszcz in cooperation with the National Digital Archives.
The analog photography renaissance is reflected in festivals worldwide. During the 10th edition, attendees can join the “Meet and Mix” conference, featuring representatives from festivals in Australia, Mexico, Portugal, Italy, Spain, and Finland. This is a unique opportunity to present one’s work to an international jury during the planned portfolio review.
Vintage Photo Festival is renowned for promoting the archives of female artists who made significant contributions to Polish and international contemporary art post-1945. Jagoda Przybylak’s first posthumous exhibition, in collaboration with the Arton Foundation, will be featured.
Additionally, there will be an exhibition of Agnieszka Osiecka’s photographs, treating photography as a tool for observation, thanks to MOCAK’s courtesy. The main partner, the Leon Wyczółkowski District Museum, will present part of its extensive photography collection, including works by Grzegorz Przyborek, Tadeusz Wański, Zofia Kulik, Józef Robakowski, Andrzej Różycki, Joanna Rajkowska, Natalia LL, and Katarzyna Kozyra.
Unique materials from Mariusz Hermanowicz’s archive (1970s-1990s) under the care of the Archaeology of Photography Foundation will be displayed, combining the author’s photographs with unpublished notebooks, mail art, poetry, and manuscripts, highlighting the relationship between word and image in his work.
Partners: Leon Wyczółkowski District Museum, Rother Mills, Museum of Photography in Bydgoszcz, FUJI, Bydgoszcz Art Center, Fotografiska Museum in Stockholm, Rezo Agency, National Digital Archives, MOCAK, Social Archives Center, Bydgoszcz City Cultural Center
Media Patrons: VOGUE, Artinfo.pl, fotopolis.pl, Contemporary Lynx, Digital Camera Polska, FOTOGRAFIA Quarterly, RMF Classic, Meetings with Monuments, Wysokie Obcasy, TVP Bydgoszcz
Project co-financed by the City of Bydgoszcz and the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship.