Memories of Dik

On May 7, 2025, Krzysztof Ziemba, a photographer, died. A native of Jarosław. We called him Diku. I use the plural because that's how we referred to Krzysztof in "Atest 70", but not only. Also in artistic circles in Jarosław and Przemyśl, where he lived for some time, he was addressed as Diku. He didn't protest, he must have accepted this form. Where it came from, we don't know, but I remember that his grandmother also called him Diku.

The 1970s. A revival in culture and art. The "Atest 70" photography club begins operating in Jarosław. Diku appears. From a year in Krakow, he brought back some of the local flair, but most importantly, photographic experience gained from contacts in the circle of Krakow artists. He quickly earned a solo exhibition. He had his own style, inimitable. At that time, everyone photographed girls, Diku too, but in his own way. His photos really stood out at exhibitions, were often awarded, and among the novice adepts of photography he was a kind of guru. He shared experiences, advised, criticized.

During a few years of working at “Jarlan”, he created a collection of photos of Jarlan fashion that was quite good for the time. The second subject that fascinated him at that time was landscape in the broad sense of the word. Wanting to achieve poeticism, he was the first to use image blurring and other unrealistic techniques. At that time, he clearly distanced himself from realism, documentary or reportage photography, as the less artistic kind. Although it happened that he picked up a camera and worked as a photojournalist at the 1st National Congress of Delegates of the Independent Self-Governing Trade Union Solidarity, which began on September 5, 1981 in Gdańsk in the Olivia Hall. He brought back excellent material from there, which unfortunately “dispersed” somewhere. That was Diku. He did not always know how to take care of his artistic achievements. This was probably his only photojournalistic adventure, apart from photos from jazz concerts, which he attended as a loyal fan of the genre. In photography, he was an individualist, he knew a lot about it and had his own opinion. He was often critical of other authors, but he never told anyone – this is bad. At most, he would shrug his shoulders and say – I am not interested in it. Like many artists, he had different periods in his work. While living in Przemyśl for some time, he created a collection of still life photographs, each of which is a poetic and at the same time painterly study of light and colour. He did not have time to show this at the exhibition. By writing the memoirs about Diku, I inadvertently wrote a piece of the history of Jarosław photography, but Diku was a part of it.

Jacek Szwic