Old photos of Wroclaw are hip [PHOTOS]

20.01.2016 00:00 |

Redakcja www.wroclaw.pl

Trams at the Market Square, soda vendors on ul. Świdnicka, 'Maluch' Fiats 126p and cows grazing among sunbathers on the Oder River: these are the pictures that score record viewings. Thousands views, likes and a long list of comments. Jacek Ratajczak talks about the trend for old pictures of Wroclaw with Dr Jarosław Maliniak, director of Documentation Centre ‘Pamięć i przyszłość’.

Many Wroclawians remember perfectly well the leeches sold at Hala Targowa, horse carts with coal, mobile knive sheering service, or people buying in bottles or rags on Wroclaw backyards. Which of your pictures of Wroclaw has earned the most hits and likes?

Dr Jarosław Maliniak: (laughs) 'I can tell you about a few of them. The record photo is that from 1975, with two girls holding ice cream on ul. Komandorska. It has 3,5 thousand likes and 700 comments. People post which ice cream in Wroclaw used to be the best in those days, and what flavours they can remember. The second picture caused a flood of comments. It presents people waiting for taxis at the main railway station in 1975. One day, it was shared over a thousand times, with comments such as: ‘Yes, I stood in a queue like this,' or 'The driver took several people at one go’. A total hit is a picture entitled 'Recreation on the Oder River,' from the 1980s, with a sunbathing woman, Syrena and Fiat 126p cars and cows.

Who views the People's Republic era pictures of Wrocław? 'You might think that only people in their forties or fifties do it. But I hear more and more often that the enthusiasts of the black-and-white photos are teenagers. For them, the 80s and 90s are almost like the 19th century January Uprising. They discover what Wroclaw was like then, how people lived, which everyday objects they used. They comment these pictures and share with one another. They pay attention to details like the bell-bottom legs of trousers, or heels in men>>'<>'<< (Niezapomniany Wrocław) enjoy great popularity, with Wroclaw neon signs, heart-warming childhood>>'<>'<< Wroclawians are looking for their roots. They view pictures from the 70s because they remember those times. They feel more sentimental about them than about the pre-war views of Breslau, because that Wroclaw was not theirs. But the communist-era Wroclaw is viewed abroad. You can see it by the comments in German, Russian, English and Ukrainian. We were surprised to recently see likes in Japanese and Korean. I reckon that for them the communist Wroclaw must be very exotic. Are the German comments something like ‘Look, what happened to our Breslau?>>'<< 'Not at all. They, for example, like the 1970s street neons. They pay attention to the artistic value of photos; they stress the picturesque scenery and appreciathe the aesthetic value of the photos we present. Viewers often comment saying they are like film shots. Are the online portals presenting old photographs now en vogue? 'Definitely. There are already some large portals and a dozen smaller ones, which follow them. The old photographs of pre-war Breslau and past-war Wroclaw have a large group of fans. p> Is this a hobby and passion, or just business? Can you make money by publishing pictures on such portals? 'Yes. Money comes, e.g. from advertising. Unfortunately, it spawns unfair competition and illegal acquisition of photos. Water marks of institutions such as museums, the Ossolineum, libraries and archives are removed. Pictures are either re-framed, or re-done in Photoshop. Watermarks are removed and new ones are added. There are even those, who claim the right to pictures, which don't belong to them. They are brazen enough to even threaten to exercise their legal rights when someone publishes “their<>'<

Do you make your photos available for free?

'Yes. Everyone can copy what is on the internet. Of course, the photos are in the so-called web resolution and bear our watermark. We charge only for commercial use.

Where do you get your pictures from?

'It depends. We purchased two collections of Wroclaw photographers: Stanisław Kokurewicz (approx. 13 000 pictures) and Zbigniew Nowak (approx. 50 000 pictures). They were freelancers for Wroclaw dailies. Recently, we bought approx. 50 photos from Stefan Arczyński, the 99-year old photographer, and one of the most famous from Wroclaw. Many photographs are a gift. They are family heirlooms from the Borderland, from post-war returnees who came to Wroclaw. We also have German photos, which we found in apartments and houses taken over by Poles. There are pictures taken in Wroclaw by slave labour workers during the Second World War, which present streets, working places, family life in German Breslau and in the Borderland, e.g. in Lviv. We have photos of Siberian deportees parading to celebrate the 3rd May Constitution Day in the middle of Africa. Only a few people want money in return for their pictures. We don't see this as a bad thing.

How much does such a collection cost?

'It depends on whether the author is 'top shelf,' and on the number of images. The more you buy, the better. In worldwide auctions, one photo by one of the most prominent photographers can go up to several thousand euro. In Poland, it amounts to a dozen of thousands of zloty, although the record-breaking photograph from the inter-war period has recently reached 130 000 PLN. Amateur photos of Wroclaw may be worth from 20 to 500 PLN. With 1 000 photos, the collection can reach the sum of 10 000 PLN and more. The most valuable are those that present something special, e.g. the demolition of the monument of Emperor Wilhelm I, situated near the moat (where now the monument of King Boleslaw the Brave is). We can say that a photo is like a work of art. It’s worth as much as someone is willing to pay for it.

What do people say when they bring in their pictures?

"They often say: ‘I brought them to you because here they would be safe’. Some are afraid that their children will dispose of the pictures. There are also those, who bring two plastic bags of photos of Wroclaw from the 80s and leave, and others, who hand us just a few photographs and share with us the stories of their lives for a couple of hours, as the pictures bring their memories back. These are moving and emotional moments.

See photos on the Facebook profile Nie-zapomiany Wrocław, of the Centre ‘Pamięć i Przyszłość’.

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