POST-REPORT (Poland, 1981-1985)

In the early 1980s, with his collages of existing photographs Krzysztof Cichosz created his own personal protest against the political developments in Poland. The results focused on the most important events of that day, such as the massive protests against the totalitarian regime, the imprisonment of the most important opposition leaders, and the deaths of the defiant shipyard workers. Cichosz filled the photos with his own symbolism. For instance, he excised sections as a reference to the disappearance of arrested opposition leaders. He called the series ‘Po-reportaz’, or literally ‘after-reports’. Although Cichosz already won an important Polish photography prize with the series in 1981, they, like all critical photographs, could not at first be shown. That was permitted only in 1985, when the communist regime relaxed the reins somewhat.