Tadeusz Rolke, a press photographer, one of the key figures of Polish fashion photography, reminisces about fashion shoots in communist Poland and Lambretta scooters and explains the connection between fashion photography and reportage.
Fashion People was an original series that included over twenty interviews and photos presenting prominent designers, photographers, and models who, over the last few decades, had defined what Polish fashion reality is. The series offered much more than a mere documentation of the meetings with these extraordinary figures; it exquisitely depicted how they perceive and understand the zeitgeist and how we, as the audience, can immediately see it in fashion. Fashion People was created between 2009 and 2012 and published in the Polish Fashion Portal and on Moda.com.pl. Contemporary Lynx quotes excerpts from the best interviews in the series.
On the occasion of the Tadeusz Rolke – Zbiór A (Collection A) exhibition at the Le Guern Gallery in Warsaw (on view till May 24, 2025), we revisit Natalia Barbarska’s conversation with the photographer that took place in 2009. The letter “A” denotes the archival category, which includes materials of historical value as well as those related to art. The exhibition brings together analogue prints which Tadeusz Rolke developed himself in the 1980s and 1990s. The photographs represent a rich collection of places and events and cover several decades of the artist’s work. For several decades now, Rolke has been showing his works at exhibitions in Poland and abroad, with a new album published every few years. Specific images become fixed in the minds of photography lovers, and those published repeatedly over time become the most characteristic.
Le Guern Gallery presents Tadeusz Rolke’s photographic idée fixe, his sensitivity to man, mood, anecdote, and composition. He is characterised by curiosity – he photographs incessantly, while saying: “(…) photography has passed me by. I think about reality so often. Is it some kind of obsession?”. A roll of photographic film has a fixed number of frames, and Rolke captures more than one interesting situation on it.
Natalia Barbarska: In the 1966 issue of You and Me magazine (Ty i Ja), in a reportage entitled Seen in Stockholm, you described both the lifestyle of young people in Sweden and what they usually wore.
Tadeusz Rolke: Indeed. In general, a lot of fashion photos are taken “for a reportage”. This is one of the keys to such photography.
N.B.: Fashion photos and reportages tell us stories. What story is behind the Sweden photos?
T.R.: The weather is nice; one is bound to stroll through Stockholm and observe. That was my very first trip to the West. I was in France, then in Sweden, photographing. Such is my affliction.
In general, a lot of fashion photos are taken “for a reportage”. This is one of the keys to such photography.
— Tadeusz Rolke
N.B.: In the same issue of You and Me, there was also an account of a famous fashion photographer, Peter Knapp, and his visit to Poland as he did a photo shoot for Moda Polska.
T.R.: I got to know Peter Knapp earlier on in Paris. I did a reportage on “How fashion is photographed in France” and accompanied him during his photo shoot of Jean Shrimpton, which is why there was no need for me to watch Peter at work in Warsaw.
N.B.: The photos taken by Peter Knapp were published in the August 1965 issue of You and Me.
T.R.: Yes. At that point, Roman Cieślewicz [a Polish graphic artist and photographer, 1959-1962, worked as an artistic editor of You and I – editor’s note] had already been working for Elle but was a friend of Knapp. And so, this personal relationship was used to bring him here. I observed both Peter and Fouli-Elia, who also used to photograph for Elle, at work.
I felt great there and managed to do a lot. The photos were developed instantly, I had the contact sheets ready the very next day. This was when I realised how much time the teams from abroad devoted to fashion photography. The photo shoots there were all about getting the absolute most out of the clothes, the situation, and the models. This was easily noticeable when comparing an average fashion magazine published behind the Iron Curtain with a similar one from the other side. Differences were in the printing quality, the number of pages, etc. The Polish People’s Republic [PRL] constantly suffered paper shortages… Remuneration was the second important aspect… There was literally a gulf between us and them. Not to mention technique, equipment, lighting.
N.B.: Does that mean it was impossible to make a living in Poland out of just photography?
T.R.: It was hard to make a lot with press photos. Most of the available jobs were strictly propaganda-based. Photographers who directly cooperated with the regime were commissioned with photos of “shock workers” that were then printed in hundreds of copies. The money earned like that was incomparable with the remuneration of photographers working for You and Me, A Woman and a Life [Kobieta i życie], or The Mirror [Zwierciadło]. There were also very lucrative jobs in advertising. Companies exporting to the West were relatively rich. One of my colleagues took pictures of leather goods, especially bags. The client wanted a high-quality catalogue, 500 copies with 50 photos each – not reprinted photos but original enlarger prints, “specially edited” with filters applied by specialists. Paper from the West had to be used, and ORWO [an East German company established for photographic film and magnetic tape production] was not even an option. Can you imagine how much that was when calculated based on the ZPAF [Association of Polish Fine Art Photographers] price list? At that time, the company had no other choice but to accept the prices specified by the Association. The catalogue was then put together by a talented graphic designer. And some Skórimpex, or whatever the company was called, could finally send it to the West. Had they ordered the printing house service, they would have sweated over it for three months with nothing good coming out of their efforts.
I only had a light meter and a tripod at my disposal. We used daylight, and when it was insufficient, we turned a single light bulb on. A negative was 6×6. That was all.
—Tadeusz Rolke
N.B.: Photographers could get such jobs either as Association members or when the Ministry of Culture granted them special rights to practise a profession. Did these requirements also apply to press photographers?
T.R.: Not at all. These only applied to photographers working for state companies and cooperatives, who took photos for advertising purposes. Corruption was also an issue, though. One time, I photographed products of a folk costumes company. I don’t remember now whether they were to be published in You and Me or Poland [Polska] magazine. Later, the same company contacted me directly. I took a series of photos, and they paid me in line with the high official rates. About a year later, they contacted me again, but this time, I did not speak to a director, but to a person responsible for external relations. We met at a café, and he openly suggested that he would take a certain portion of my remuneration. The sum he wanted was quite acceptable, so I agreed. It was the first time in my life that I bribed someone. I mean – I paid a commission (laughs).
N.B.: The 1960s were a time of significant development of fashion photography. Everyone dreamed of being a photojournalist. Was that also your aspiration?
T.R.: Obviously. That Blow-Up film [directed by Michelangelo Antonioni in 1966] caused incredible hype among the photo community. At that time, I already had direct photo orders from Moda Polska [a state-owned Polish postwar fashion house and chain of department stores]. And there was also You and Me. Besides, I did photo shoots with Barbara Hoff [a Polish fashion designer] for Przekrój – I think I was paid by the collection producer. Once, we organised an exhibition featuring enlarged photos of clothes designed by Barbara, commissioned by Moda Polska. I did some work in Łódź, too, but I don’t remember who ordered it – probably Telimena [a fashion house]. There was a studio and models, so I only had to bring my camera.
N.B.: I find the moment you, an experienced reporter, got your first fashion assignment fascinating.
T.R.: It was when I worked for the Stolica. I was told: “Go and document a show”.
N.B.: Do you still remember it?
T.R.: Everything about that fashion looked really meagre. Moda Polska and some cooperatives had already been established at that time. Plus, a big company, Telimena, operated in Łódź. Here in the Grochów district, there was also a fashion company – Cora. Sometimes shows were organised in Warsaw. I was more serious about photos taken for printed magazines. There were no specialised teams of make-up artists and lighting designers back then. In the 1980s, I made a calendar with Kora [a Polish singer]. My idea was to take the photos in a studio of Edward Dwurnik, a painter, and he agreed. Three people were on set – Kora, Monika Małkowska, who took care of make-up, and I, the photographer. Only three people worked to create photos that became extremely popular later on! I only had a light meter and a tripod at my disposal. We used daylight, and when it was insufficient, we turned a single light bulb on. A negative was 6×6. That was all. When I tell this story to my students, their jaws literally drop.
N.B.: Nowadays, an extensive team of people works on each photo shoot, including a clothing company representative.
T.R.: Here is when manipulation comes into play.
N.B.: You often emphasise that reality is what you care about most. At the same time, you are among the pioneers of Polish fashion photography, where everything is prearranged.
T.R.: Why would I limit myself and just specialise in one thing when I know photography is a language to me? When photos need to be prearranged, we do it; when they shouldn’t be prearranged, we observe without intervening. I wasn’t exclusively taking still-life photos. I did not know how to photograph handbags, how to illuminate and wax them so they would shine. I did not know how to photograph furniture, so I simply did not do it.
N.B.: But you did take some photographs of interiors…
T.R.: I did. The photos were taken to show how practically and aesthetically pleasing furnish these small flats. Nonetheless, I would never accept a job from some furniture manufacturer asking me for catalogue photographs. I would bore myself to death, and the result would certainly be poor.
N.B.: In the 1960s, you worked with the most prominent designers of that era, like Jadwiga Grabowska’s team from Moda Polska, Barbara Hoff, and Grażyna Hase. How do you look back on these collaborations?
T.R.: I have very positive memories. Once, I photographed sheepskin jackets for Grażyna Hase. We went to the seaside, to Sopot – two models, Grażyna, and I. There was a small issue – I wanted them to pose barefoot. But it was autumn, and they were too cold, wearing tights. My vision was to create an impression of a naked woman with only a sheepskin jacket on. But this idea was ruined because of the tights (laughs). Jadwiga Grabowska was a person who liked to intervene a lot in the photo shoot. We had to instruct the models to pose exactly as she imagined it. She was an extremely self-disciplined woman who required discipline from others. Her company was a gem in the PRL. For the government, Moda Polska was something like a colourful business card. Jadwiga even made trips to Paris to buy the textiles. She knew Prime Minister Cyrankiewicz in person.
Those who didn’t earn in US dollars couldn’t get a Rolleiflex. This was a tool that publishers used to make photographers dependent on them.
— Tadeusz Rolke
N.B.: A girl standing on the empty Jerozolimskie Avenue in Warsaw. Was this famous photo in Przekrój in 1969 your idea?
T.R.: The shooting conditions at Moda Polska were terrible – a tiny space with a single piece of clean wall. So I went out whenever I could. I brought models to places where it was bright and we had some interesting backgrounds. We would do anything to escape that small space.
N.B.: Martin Munkácsi and Richard Avedon had excellent studios at their disposal, but they took their models outside for different reasons.
T.R.: We also had quite good equipment in the editorial offices – brought from the West. For an individual, it was incredibly hard to obtain, very expensive. Those who didn’t earn in US dollars couldn’t get a Rolleiflex. This was a tool that publishers used to make photographers dependent on them. When I left Poland, I managed to buy a used Rolleiflex, but I did it abroad.
N.B.: Were you still working with fashion photography abroad?
T.R.: I would say… No, but for instance, I worked for a magazine that served as a “PR” channel for Hamburg. I photographed models for them, but these pictures were to illustrate reportages about the city. Part of what went into it was the modelling agencies.
N.B.: Back then, you were already focused on the Fischmarkt series.
T.R.: This was a project I focused on for the longest time and which took most of my energy. For 15 years now, I have been working on another series of photos with no people – We were here. I photograph places where Hasids were present, portraying Jewish cultural heritage spots in Poland and Ukraine. This is the most time-intensive undertaking of my life. It is also particularly unique as it does not feature any people. I do all this for those who are no longer with us.
N.B.: Barbara Hoff engaged not only models in photo shoots but also actors, musicians, and friends. These pictures form a portrait of your generation.
T.R.: Małgosia Braunek, Gerard Wilk, who was an amazing dancer, [Maria] Wachowiak. But we also worked with models from Moda Polska, like Lucyna – the one skipping on Jerozolimskie Avenue.
N.B.: Rumour has it that Lucyna Witkowska used to be your girlfriend. Jerzy Antkowiak gave this secret away to me.
T.R.: He betrayed me, while she cheated on me (laughs). Did Jerzy also show you a picture of him sitting surrounded by female models? It was taken for the Poland magazine, for a feature about him and [Irena] Biegańska.
N.B.: Your photos depict not only fashion but also the people behind it.
T.R.: This was a nice aspect of working with Barbara Hoff. We formed an inner circle, and there was nobody who wouldn’t blend in or would be a nuisance. Just our own people.. Most importantly, everyone was nonpartisan. The so-called Warsaw intelligentsia. A notion that still existed back then. A social class that was decimated during the occupation and in the period of the communist regime.
N.B.: Was there rivalry between fashion photographers?
T.R.: Maybe to a certain extent, as dictated by ambition. To have photos published in You and Me – that was something. However, there wasn’t as much rivalry to it being talked about. [Andrzej] Wiernicki worked for A Woman and a Life. He approached his pictures like a craftsman and could say a lot of fascinating things about this mechanism. [Krzysztof] Gierałtowski also presented fashion in a very interesting way. Unfortunately, he has a lot of opponents, controversial. A book was published [in 2013] – written by one of his ex-girlfriends, the everlastingly famous singer Maryla Rodowicz. They dated for some time, and she speaks of him very negatively. I’m not fond of such gossipy reads.
N.B.: The 1960s were also when the works by photographers now considered iconic were published. Trends from the West came to Poland, like miniskirts.
T.R.: Just a few days passed between when a miniskirt got popular in London and the day it started to be worn in Warsaw. It all happened in the blink of an eye. In fashion, just like in music, there were no state borders or the Iron Curtain. Music can be tried to be drowned out, but not completely. Radio Luxembourg wasn’t jammed. But the politically-oriented radio stations like Radio Free Europe and Voice of America were. At the airports, Harper’s Bazaar was never confiscated, but Kultura Paryska [translated as Paris-based Culture] was. From time to time, someone brought foreign fashion magazines. A single issue was paged through by roughly twenty people. We used to copy certain articles or cut them out and publish them in other magazines, not only for women. Girls were extremely ingenious and knew how to improvise. Many of them made their own clothes. With the sewing machines in most houses, magazines provided patterns. There was no way to stop new fashion trends from coming to us. The ruling party had no tools to fight against miniskirts or colourful tights. They actually had no interest in doing so and would never be able to succeed. In 1968, they had enough trouble with anti-Semitic agitation. In Stalin’s (and Tyrmand’s) time, colourful socks, tight pants, and dotted ties were forbidden, but later on, the party stopped bothering.
N.B.: So, fashion photography was the most important channel for sharing information.
T.R.: It was a channel through which trends were popularised. It really played a huge role. There were not as many TV sets back then as there are now. Photography was far more influential than television.
N.B.: Did you also promote certain fashion trends in your private life?
T.R.: Me? Not at all. I always liked wearing jackets and sweaters. These were times when motor scooters were really trendy in Warsaw. It was both a trend and a little manifestation of snobbery. I would have never ridden the Osa scooter.
N.B.: Why not?
T.R.: Because it was ugly.
N.B.: An aesthete of you.
T.R.: There were also Vespas, but Lambrettas looked nicer. A girl wearing a so-called bomber dress on a Lambretta was all you would want to see! Sometimes, they even sat sideways, which was a breach of safety rules. Once, I took a picture of a girl standing next to a scooter and a barefoot boy watching her. Most people ask me if I took that picture in Italy. I did it in Brodnica (laughs).
N.B.: Did the Lambretta in the picture belong to you?
T.R.: It did. Acquiring a Lambretta had to be done cleverly. My friend Eustachy Kossakowski, a photographer, learned that they had been brought to Silesia. The miners were getting some attractive Western goods at that time – refrigerators and washing machines. They were like a privileged class who earned a lot of money. But it turned out all they wanted were big motorcycles, like Junak, Jawa, or MZ. Scooters with 15 hp and 60 km/h speed meant nothing to them. And so, Eustachy found out that the Lambrettas were released for sale. I got into significant debt. Let’s say that the WFM motorcycle was 7,000 PLN, and a Lambretta was as much as 27,000 PLN. But I drove my Lambretta all around Poland – from Kołobrzeg to Bieszczady, from Krynica to Zamość.
N.B.: The main character in Blow-Up rode a Rolls-Royce; Helmut Newton rode a famous Porsche. A love of stylish vehicles is apparently part of the fashion photographer’s job.
T.R.: As soon as the Lambretta time was over and I had to think about a four-wheeled vehicle, I naturally went for the VW Beetle. I have never driven a Wartburg, Syrenka, or Warszawa. It was ten years old, but it was still a Beetle. I bought it in Sweden in the 1960s. The customs fee was 40 PLN per kilogram. The car weighed 700kg, so I paid 28,000 PLN. A huge amount of money!
N.B.: Did you follow fashion trends while preparing for photo shoots?
T.R.: I did not want to constantly be influenced by them, but yes, I was interested in fashion trends, like the choice between a mini and maxi skirt, a little black dress, or the shoe height. Colour schemes. The back-combed hairstyles did not hold well.
N.B.: Were there any models that you enjoyed working with more than others?
T.R.: Lucyna was excellent. I liked working with her a lot; I also took non-commercial photos of her, by the way. Ewa Fichner, who was a famous figure in Warsaw, not only as a model, was splendid. She really had a lot of what used to be called sex appeal. [Wojciech] Prażmowski and I call have a great name for it – “pohib”. A Ukrainian word, much stronger than “sex appeal”. Ewa’s adventures, both in her private and sex life, were discussed widely across Warsaw.
N.B.: In the 1970s, you went to Moscow with Teresa Kuczyńska, the Fashion Editor of You and Me. You were about to take photos at the show of Slava Zaitsev.
T.R.: I visited Moscow for the very first time in the 1960s. We photographed pieces made in the famous GUM department store. We were busy for a few days. I worked with models in Red Square or on the streets. An extensive reportage was published then in You and Me, a magazine Teresa founded with her husband. His name was Roman Juryś, and he used to be an editor at The People’s Tribune [Trybuna Ludu]. He was a very orthodox communist, a Stalinist, but later on found himself at the forefront of revisionism. He left the party but was allowed to start You and Me as he had proper connections.
Once, I took a picture of a girl standing next to a scooter and a barefoot boy watching her. Most people ask me if I took that picture in Italy. I did it in Brodnica (laughs).
— Tadeusz Rolke
N.B.: Do you remember that Zaitsev’s show? What you brought back from there was one of the first glimpses of this designer.
T.R.: I do remember. I seduced one of his models. It was a huge secret, otherwise, they would have fired her immediately had they found out. She was extremely scared. It was forbidden for Soviet citizens to enter the hotel where foreigners were staying. We met at the Ukraine Hotel, which was the size of the Palace of Culture.
N.B.: You’re confirming the existence of the legendary seductive powers of photographers that we see in films, from Funny Face to Blow-Up.
T.R.: Piotr Barącz discovered Pola Raksa on the street. Marek Holzman got to know Barbara Brylska, who then became his lover, the same way… And I had a flat to which I sometimes lent the keys. Once, one of my friends, using these keys, met a girl and took her to my place. As soon as he opened the door, she said: “I have been here before…” (laughs). Back then, you were only allowed to get a hotel room to stay in with your spouse. I am sure you can’t imagine that, but such were the times. We just tried to have a normal life in an abnormal country. And it wasn’t that simple…
Interview first published in ‘Moda.com.pl’ magazine No 40 / Winter 2009.
Natalia Barbarska – a graduate of Art History at the University of Łódź, between 2006 and 2013 – a fashion journalist and an Editor-in-Chief at Tendencje.pl. She has lived and worked in France since 2016, currently as a specialist in visual arts at the Polish Institute in Paris.
