Czesław Siegieda – Photographer
“My purpose was to capture and deliver my own intimate experiences of the post-war Polish community I grew up in.
“I wanted to focus on simple things and scenes that would tell a personal story about the spirit of a people and of a nation who would not be broken either by war or occupation.”
Biography
Czesław Siegieda (b.1954) was born in a displaced persons camp at Burton on the Wolds in Leicestershire. Polish is his first language, not starting to learn English until he went to a Catholic school run by nuns when he was five years old. His upbringing was steeped in the Polish traditions of his parents. A photographer from a young age, he went on to study photography at the acclaimed Trent Polytechnic School of Creative Photography in Nottingham (1973 – 1977): lecturers included Paul Hill, Raymond Moore, and John Blakemore, plus visiting lecturers Brett Weston, David Hurn, Nick Hedges, Chris Steele-Perkins, Martin Parr, Danny Lyon, Minor White, Van Deren Coke and Tim Gidal.
Beginning with intimate views of his family members, he photographed the life and times of a community displaced by war and unable to return to their homeland. His subjects include daily life at home, religious festivals, Polish Saturday school, the Polish boarding schools, remembrance and commemoration. From 1970 until the eighties, he photographed members of the Polish community based in the East Midlands, treating them as protagonists of a small ‘theatrical world’ in search of a lost spiritual homeland.
Many of his subjects had suffered traumatic events but, as an insider he has a unique natural affinity with his subjects, understanding their sensitivities and respecting their dignity. His black and white photographs reveal a world which has all but disappeared.
At this distance in time, it is important that the contribution of the Poles to our victory in World War II and their lives in this country after the end of hostilities, should be remembered and celebrated. Czesław Siegieda’s work reflects his concern that this should be so.
Education
Trent Polytechnic School of Creative Photography, Nottingham, UK | 1973 – 1977
Awards
Photographer in Residence at Gardner Arts Centre, University of Sussex | 1977 – 1978
Tolly Cobbold/Eastern Arts Photography Awards | 1978
West Midlands Arts Photography Fellowship | 1978 – 1980
Collections
National Portrait Gallery, London.
Martin Parr Foundation, Bristol.
Solo Exhibitions
Half Moon Gallery, London | 1977
Phoenix Arts Centre, Leicester | 1981
Group Exhibitions
Art For Society, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London | 1978
Blast! Photo Festival, England | 2019
Facing Britain: British documentary photography since the 1960s | Museum of Photography, Krakow | 2022
Publications
British Journal of Photography | 1978
Polska Britannica | 2020 (RRB Photobooks)
Tritone Press Zine | Polska Britannica | 2022
