Arkadiusz Gola

Pedagogue and doctorate of the Institute of Creative Photography of the University of Silesia in Opava (Czech Republic). Born in 1972, lives in Zabrze. He deals with documentary photography, primarily recording the changes taking place in Polish society after 1989. He is particularly interested in places related to industry, which shrank significantly in Poland at the end of the 20th century. He has been working as a press photojournalist since 1991, and since 1996 – in the editorial office of Dziennik Zachodni.
Prizes incl. Polish Press Photo, BZ WBK Press Photo, Newsreportaż, Silesian Press Photo, Grand Press Photo. A journalist of the year of “Dziennik Zachodni” (2003). Award of the Mayor of Zabrze in the field of culture (2010). Two-time scholarship holder of the Marshal of the Silesian Voivodeship in the field of culture. In 2017, he was awarded the honorary badge “Zasłużony dla Kultury Polskiej” by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage. Photos in the collections of the Silesian Museum in Katowice, the Museum of the History of Katowice, the City Museum in Zabrze, the Coal Mining Museum in Zabrze, the Museum of the History of Photography in Kraków, the Umeni Museum in Olomouc and in Nord-Pas-de-Calais (France). A member of the Union of Polish Artists Photographers. The author of a few photo book. Exhibited in Poland and abroad (Czech Republic, France, Germany, Belgium, Slovakia).

EXHIBITIONS

It is a reportage of everyday life, mainly in the cities of the Upper Silesian–Zagłębie agglomeration. The photos were taken over the course of nearly 30 years and show the times of the systemic transformation, the beginnings of the free market, and the formation of generations of young Poles who did not know the communist People’s Republic of Poland. It is a society that tries to build its prosperity in times of technological revolutions. In these photos we can view ourselves as in a mirror. Although most of them originated in one region, they show us a universal society, with cares and joys that can equally apply to people in other regions or countries.

Arkadiusz Gola