Adam KACZKOWSKI (1917 - 1995)

The Past Perfect Tense

1965-1966
gelatin silver print, 40 x 48.5 cm,
titled, annotation reading "praca nr 2," artist’s stamp and exhibition stamp reading "Międzynarodowa Wystawa / Fotografii Artystycznej / Warszawa 1966 (?)
Polska" with hand written numbers on the reverse
vintage

This photograph proves that Kaczkowski had a trained news photographer’s eye, and was able to endow his images with symbolic meanings by capturing scenes from a unique, atypical angle. The picture was taken in front of the memorial erected in 1965 at the site of the Pawiak building, which was located between Dzielna, Pawia, and Więzienna Streets in Warsaw, and used to be the largest Nazi prison for political prisoners on the territory of occupied Poland in the years 1939-1944.