Obrąpalska became interested in photography around the mid 1930s. Jan Bułhak had a fundamental influence on the style of her early work. Her photographs are characterized by realism with a peculiar trait of pictorialism. After World War II, Obrąpalska started to create innovative works, thanks to which she came to be included in the group of the most illustrious representatives of the Polish photographic avant-garde. In 1948, Obrąpalska created the famous Diffusion in Liquid series, which was appreciated for its combination of documentary and artistic values. The late period of Obrąpalska`s photographic activity was dominated by nature photography, which she had taken up in the early 1950s upon the commission of the Academy of Agriculture in Poznań. Selected retrospective exhibitions: Arsenal Municipal Gallery, Poznań (1999); Museum of the History of Photography, Cracow (2001/2002); B&B Gallery of Photography, Bielsko-Biała (2004).
circa 1951 / 1951
gelatin silver print, 37.8 x 29 cm,
on the reverse: description, author`s stamp and label 14th Photography Exhibition, Toruń (1951),
edition: unspecified
vintage print
The photograph dates back to the period when Obrąpalska followed the trend of socialist realism, yet she was able to avoid cheap propaganda. Her photographs from the beginning of the 1950s are characterised by a very high artistic quality, innovative angles and bold composition.
Selected exhibitions: She-Documentalists: Polish Women Photographers of the 20th Century, Zachęta National Gallery of Art (2008); Shadow of Socialist Realism. Poznań Photography in the First Half of the 1950s, Zamek Cultural Centre, Poznań (2011).
Another print of the photograph is in the collection of the Walery Rzewuski Museum of the History of Photography in Cracow.
Obrąpalska became interested in photography around the mid 1930s. Jan Bułhak had a fundamental influence on the style of her early work. Her photographs are characterized by realism with a peculiar trait of pictorialism. After World War II, Obrąpalska started to create innovative works, thanks to which she came to be included in the group of the most illustrious representatives of the Polish photographic avant-garde. In 1948, Obrąpalska created the famous Diffusion in Liquid series, which was appreciated for its combination of documentary and artistic values. The late period of Obrąpalska`s photographic activity was dominated by nature photography, which she had taken up in the early 1950s upon the commission of the Academy of Agriculture in Poznań. Selected retrospective exhibitions: Arsenal Municipal Gallery, Poznań (1999); Museum of the History of Photography, Cracow (2001/2002); B&B Gallery of Photography, Bielsko-Biała (2004).