Completing a diploma project marks the end of an important stage in the process of acquiring knowledge. At many universities, the final project is highly specific, reflecting the concrete nature of the subjects taught there. There are, however, universities and schools where such a precisely defined approach is rarely possible. The projects that conclude an education at an art school tend to be less clear-cut. Here, too, a diploma project is intended to demonstrate the skills acquired: mastery of the technical and aesthetic tools used to create works capable of captivating an audience.

Above all, however, it should embody values that cannot be fully measured. Foremost among them is the ability to analyse a chosen aspect of contemporary life and present it through artistic means in a way that elicits a response and encourages reflection. The viewer’s interpretation need not align with the artist’s vision, but the work should not leave them indifferent. A diploma project should be a serious and independent statement by its author, who must have the courage to present what concerns them in accordance with their own convictions. It should express their truth. The form of the project should reinforce its message while remaining reasonably accessible to its audience.

The diploma projects by students of the ZPAF Photography Programme presented in this exhibition are decidedly diverse, much like contemporary photography and contemporary art themselves. For those who are not photography enthusiasts and therefore do not closely follow its development, photography remains primarily a record of what the human eye perceives. This type of photography dominates the public sphere—in the press, social media and advertising—and it also appears directly in the diploma projects.

Here, however, it takes on a somewhat deeper character, using the conventions of classical photography to address important social issues. Documentary forms record a particular time, situation and material reality, preserving for future generations a sense of what life was like. Classical subjects such as portraiture and still life document people’s appearance and behaviour, as well as the role objects play in their lives. These are characteristic signs of passing time. Such themes feature prominently in the diploma projects on display.

Alongside documentary works, the exhibition also includes intriguing experiments with visual form. In these projects, photography is merely the starting point for creating images in which colours entice the eye and forms resist unequivocal interpretation, becoming puzzles that may be solved differently by different viewers.

For photographers, reality—the world seen directly—is not the only thing that matters. The artist’s imagination is equally important, and it too can be used to create photographic images. Such images originate in the mind, while their realisation, often in a highly complex form, involves combining photographic elements with other techniques and processes that contribute to the construction of the final work.

Photography is a close relative of visual art forms that emerged centuries ago. It appeared as one of the important tools accompanying rapid technological change. The art world initially embraced new techniques with some reluctance. Today, those former reservations have largely disappeared. Whenever artists feel the need, or when their works require it, they draw upon a wide range of means to strengthen the impact of their art and communicate more powerfully with their audience.

Among the diploma projects presented in the exhibition are works combining a variety of techniques and modes of presentation. They began in the artists’ imaginations, leading them away from conventional imagery and towards allegories and unexpected frames, through which they create narratives of great emotional intensity. Everything that can be seen in this diploma exhibition is photography. The diversity of ideas and the ways in which they are presented reveal the inexhaustible potential of contemporary photography.

Andrzej Zygmuntowicz — Exhibition Curator