Chris Niedenthal was born in London, and grew up there in a Polish family. He has been living in Poland for nearly 40 years. "Ideally, though spontaneously, my professional life has been summed up by Lech Wałęsa himself. During the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City in 2002, we met in the course of some interview. Then he told me something very true: "Listen, Chris, somehow you’re not evolving. I was an electrician, then a trade unionist, awarded a Nobel Prize, and finally President of Poland – and all you do all the time is just shoot and shoot. " You were right, Lech."

 

 

A tank outside the Moscow Cinema with "Apocalypse Now" is a photographic icon of martial law. A photo taken with distance and heart. By a guy with a camera and a British passport who arrived here in 1973. By a journalist charmed by Poland, telling the world about events from behind the Iron Curtain. - I watched the revolutions in Prague, Berlin and Hungary. But my heart to stay remained in Gdańsk,” he recalls his participation in the August strike in the shipyard. 

 

For Newsweek, Time Magazine and Der Spiegel, he photographed the emergence of Solidarity, the Pope’s first visit, the martial law, and the collapse of communism. Everything with professional distance, but more and more affection.

 

In his recollections of those events, only the latter is evident. Flavoured with a huge dose of British sarcasm with a hint of Polish nostalgia.

 

Please join us for a meeting with Chris Niedenthal, who will talk about his autobiography: Occupation: Photographer.