Organized by the Zbigniew Raszewski Theatre Institute, the Theatre Photography Competition has been an important platform for juxtaposing works and ‘languages’ of artists who photograph theatre from the very beginning. Hundreds of works are submitted to the Competition every year.
The leading idea of the Competition is to popularize and develop theater photography as a discipline of art. Each edition is supported by numerous exhibitions and publications. In 2018, the Theater Institute and the Museum of the History of Photography in Krakow released the album ‘Plewiński. On stage’, which contains nearly 200 photographs and presents photos from about 50 performances. The edition reveals the photographic capacity of documentation created by the artist. Each year, the post-competition reprise exhibitions are visiting the most important photography reviews and festivals. The works of the finalists and winners of the Competition have been shown in over 20 cities so far.
The Competition aims to promote and develop the art of theater photography and to present photography not only as a form of documenting the process of artistic work on and around the stage but also as a tool for co-creating meanings and ways of reception of a work with its qualities and values. The competition is also intended to broaden and deepen reflection on the meaning and forms of theater photography.
