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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

Kasimir worked by his father’s side in the mine for six months.[57] The family lived in Rouvroy, a town in which the Polish community had settled, particularly in the Nouméa quarter. Many traders carried on their businesses in this quarter, including Kasimir’s brother-in-law François Kmieczak, who ran a photography studio there.[58] in August 1924, Kasimir took over the studio from his brother-in-law, who introduced him to photography and laid the foundation for Kasimir’s success between 1924 and 1939[59] The studio had a customer area, a photographic room and an area for recording films.[60] A family photo in front of the studio shows the lettering “François Kmieczak-Successeur (=successor) Kasimir Zgorecki” in the shop window and is evidence that the renowned studio had been taken over successfully (see Fig. 13).

Frédéric Lefever, the administrator of Zgorecki’s photographs, suspects that Kasimir was moved to take over the photography studio because work in the mines, which was known to be physically very demanding, was not an attractive long-term prospect for him.[61] That is why he devoted himself to photography. He began initially with unusual self-portraits so that he could experiment with the light and he dressed up as a sad clown, an artist, Hamlet or a Hollywood actor.[62] These portraits point to a sensitive personality and indicate a conflict with his identity. In total, 30 self-portraits were found in the estate. However, Zgorecki’s later photographs mainly show people in the Polish enclave. The discovery also includes a lot of pictures of families and their employees in front of businesses. These photos mainly served to show family members in Poland that the family was enjoying social success in France.[63] They show an idealised reality in the diaspora. They also underline the decision to immigrate and demonstrate the successful integration into society.

When the obligation for all foreigners residing in France for more than 15 days to carry proof of identity was introduced in 1917, Kasimir created numerous passport photos with a neutral background against which people were photographed without showing emotion.[64] The people were shown from the front or from the side, usually not wearing their everyday clothes, and were photographed showing part of their upper body. Zgorecki generally photographed a lot of individuals. Amongst these photographs, the image of one young women in particular stands out: She was described in France as the “Polish Mona Lisa” (see Fig. 14) and also adorns the cover of the catalogue for the exhibition which the Louvre-Lens dedicated to Kasimir’s photographs in 2019.[65]

 

[57] Frédéric Lefever: Kasimir Zgorecki, p. 11.

[58] Henri Dudzinski: Les Polonais du Nord, p. 8.

[59] Frédéric Lefever: Kasimir Zgorecki, p. 11.

[60] Frédéric Lefever: Kasimir Zgorecki, p. 9.

[61] Email contact with Lefever in May and June 2020.

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

[63] Frédéric Lefever: Kasimir Zgorecki, p. 27.

[64] Frédéric Lefever: Kasimir Zgorecki, p. 19.

[65] see: https://www.louvrelenp. fr/en/exhibition/casimir-zgorecki/ (zuletzt abgerufen am 26.06.2020)

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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