All Kinds of Jobs Accepted

Over 100 photographs by rural photographers from Podlasie, a region along the Polish-Belarusian border, are currently on display at the Sleńdziński Gallery in Białystok as part of the exhibition All Kinds of Jobs Accepted.

These images were taken by individuals who never considered themselves artists, yet—whether consciously or intuitively—they crafted a visual narrative of their towns and villages. Their photographs reveal remarkable talent and preserve invaluable glimpses of a bygone world.

The exhibition showcases the work of five rural photographers from Podlasie: Jerzy Kostko from Kleszczele, Jan Siwicki from Jaczno, Konstanty Kuźmin from Gródek, Józef Januszkiewicz from Wojszki, and Jan Żukowski from Kuźnica. Although they often captured similar subjects, each developed a distinctive visual language and personal style.

Most of their photographs weren’t taken in studios but outdoors—in farmyards, against barn walls, or in front of house doors. Makeshift backdrops, often hung on nails, served to conceal what they didn’t want future generations to see—usually poverty. Their work documents the rhythm of rural life: significant milestones like weddings and funerals, as well as more mundane moments—ID photos or keepsake portraits.

Photography was rarely their primary occupation. They worked as teachers, farmers, construction workers, beekeepers, hairdressers, meat vendors, or barrel makers. Photography was often a side job, and as such, they took on all kinds of commissions. To economize, they frequently cut medium-format film into halves or quarters—just to fit more faces onto a single frame.

The exhibition is curated by Grzegorz Dąbrowski and organized by the Widok Cultural Education Association in Białystok.