Leszek FIDUSIEWICZ (ur. 1943)

Marian Woronin Training / Academy of Physical Education

1982/2013
pigment print, Hahnemühle Museum Etching 350 g, 40 x 42 cm,
signed, dated and description on the reverse and on the front of passe-partout,
edition: 1/5

The photograph has great symbolism for the sporting community. It was taken at the beginning of Martial Law in 1981, when the authorities introduced a photography ban as a result of which Fidusiewicz was obliged to return his cameras to Razem weekly. However, once he learned that Marian Woronin is training for the European Indoor Championships on a military training area created within the site of the Academy of Physical Education, he decided to break the ban. Two lanes of the track were cleared especially for Woronin. The photographer sneaked into the area by pretending to be an assistant of Tadeusz Cuch, who was Woronin`s trainer. Before that, he said goodbye to his wife and year-old son, being aware of the huge risk involved, as at the time photographing military facilities was treated by the authorities as spying. The only camera he had on himself was his private Rollei 65, wrapped up in black plastic foil. He set the shutter speed at 1/125" and the aperture at 3.5 held the camera in his palm and photographed without looking into the viewer. Initially, he took the shots by pretending to be taking Woronin`s time at the finish, and then from a window sill, where he took the photograph presented here. Fidusiewicz gave the negatives to a Frenchman who was helping the Polish opposition, thanks to which the picture was printed in Paris Match on the day when Woronin won his gold medal during the European Indoor Championships in March 1982. Nobody knew who the author of the snap was, yet his fellow photographers suspected that it was "Fidus". The negative was lost, and the photograph featured here was reproduced from the only surviving preview print sized 18 x 18 cm.


estimate: 2000 - 3000 zł