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Kasimir Zgorecki (1904-1980) – from Recklinghausen to the pantheon of French photography

Ruhr Pole – Westfalczyk – Westphalian – three descriptions for the life of Kasimir Zgorecki, who was born in Recklinghausen in 1904. The son of Polish emigrants from the region around Poznań, he grew up in Herne and, after training as a coppersmith, initially followed his father into mining. Until he was 18, Zgorecki’s childhood was influenced by the Polish “strongholds” in the west, with everyday life in his family involving Polish language and culture and membership of numerous clubs and associations. These clubs and associations endeavoured to preserve Polish life in all its diversity in order to hang on to traditions from the homeland with morality and order.

The Zgorecki family emigrated to the northern French mining region of the Pas-de-Calais in 1922. Kasimir soon decided against a professional career as a miner. He began to take photographs and took over his brother-in-law’s photography studio in Rouvroy. His photographs became very popular in France and have been exhibited in various art museums since the 1990s.

In 2019, the Louvre-Lens museum of art exhibited several of his photographs, with the French press dubbing Kasimir Zgorecki a “contemporary witness” of Polish life in northern France. The fact that his work has received such broad acclaim can be attributed to a chance find by a member of his family in 1990.

Karzimierz Zgórecki: Self-portrait, photograph 1994, private ownership
Kazimierz Zgórecki: Self-portrait (self-portrait 1994), black and white photograph, print 2019, privately owned by the family, published in the Louvre-Lens exhibition catalogue
©
Frédéric Lefever © adagp / Frédéric Lefever

It is not without good reason that Kasimir Zgorecki is acclaimed as one of the most important contemporary witnesses of Polish life in northern France. The discovery of 4,000 negatives dating back to between 1928 and 1939 connected family members and friends beyond national borders.[75] His photographs bear witness to the successful development of many families and tell their personal stories. The black and white portraits are artistically of high quality and were well respected in the art scene arousing the interest of leading French museums. From an historical perspective, the discovery of the negatives is of vital importance. It is a reminder of the life in the interwar period, in a century full of political change, and also shows, in this turbulent period, the brief moments and stories of the people they captured. They were immortalised forever by Zgorecki’s passion for photography.

Lefever has set up a Facebook page showing pictures that have never been seen before https://www.facebook.com/KasimirZgorecki.[76]

 

Marta Schwierz, july 2020

 

Video about the exhibition "Studio Zgorecki" in Jeu du Paume in Tours (19. mai - 31. october 2021): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPPe7kxc0Nk 

 

[75] Frédéric Lefever: Kasimir Zgorecki, p. 8.

 

Kazimierz Zgórecki: Self-portrait (self-portrait 1994), black and white photograph, print 2019, privately owned by the family, published in the Louvre-Lens exhibition catalogue
©
Frédéric Lefever © adagp / Frédéric Lefever
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  • Fig. 1: Self-portrait, 1920s

    Kasimir Zgorecki: Self-portrait, photograph, 1920s

  • Fig. 2: Birth certificate, 1904

    Kasimir Zgorecki’s birth certificate, certificate, 1904

  • Fig. 3: Registration card, 1907

    The Zgorecki family’s registration card, document, 1907

  • Fig. 4: Herner address book, 1912

    The Zgorecki family’s address, address book, 1912

  • Fig. 5: Herne address book, 1914

    The Zgorecki family’s address, address book, 1914

  • Fig. 6: Bahnhofstraße in Herne, date unknown

    The town centre in Herne, photograph, author and date unknown

  • Fig. 7: Colour postcard of Bahnhofstraße in Herne, ca. 1912

    The town centre in Herne, postcard, author unknown, ca. 1912

  • Fig. 8: Sokół, date unknown

    Sokół presentation at a festival, photograph, date unknown

  • Fig. 9: “Kraft” advertisement, date unknown

    Advertisement for the “Kraft” photography studio, advert, date unknown

  • Fig. 10: Herne address book, 1912

    Addresses in Herne, address book, 1912

  • Fig. 11: Parade in Herne, date unknown

    Parade in the Polish quarter, photograph, author and date unknown

  • Fig. 12: Call against radical ‘Polishness’, 1920

    Call against radical ‘Polishness’, newspaper advert, 1920

  • Fig. 13: The Zgorecki family in France, 1920s

    Kasimir Zgorecki and his family, photograph, 1920s

  • Fig. 14: Portrait of a woman, 1920s

    Portrait of a young woman, photograph, 1920s

  • Fig. 15: Gymnastics club, 1930s

    Photograph of a gymnastics club, photograph, 1930s

  • Fig. 16: Family celebration, 1930s

    Photograph of family celebrations, photograph, 1930s

  • Fig. 17: Parade, 1930s

    Festivities in the streets of Northern France, photograph, 1930s

  • Fig. 18: Nativity scene, 1930s

    Photograph of a nativity scene, photograph, 1930s

  • Fig. 19: Grieving family, 1930

    Photograph of a grieving family, photograph, 1930

  • Fig. 20: Post-mortem photograph, 1930s

    Photograph of a deceased child, photograph, 1930s
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