Mariusz Hermanowicz

Mariusz Hermanowicz graduated from the Cinematography Department at the Polish National Film, Television and Theatre School in Łódź. In his early period of work, which he described as amateur, he primarily photographed in a documentary and reportage style, focusing on observing reality. At that time, he photographed various places in Poland—including his hometown of Olsztyn, as well as Warsaw and Łódź—as well as countries visited during his travels: France, Tunisia, and Bulgaria.

During this period, he also drew extensively, particularly humorous stories about the adventures of Mr. Tummy, published in the children’s weekly Świerszczyk, which brought him considerable popularity and numerous awards.

After 1975, his work entered a mature phase, and his individual artistic style became more clearly defined—straddling conceptual and documentary photography. A turning point came in 1977, when he received the first prize, the Golden Amber Award, in the “Photography Speaks” competition, which motivated him to fully dedicate himself to photography. The following year, he became a member of the Union of Polish Art Photographers (ZPAF).

Hermanowicz became known for adding handwritten captions directly onto his prints—witty, sometimes ironic, always perceptive and insightful, prompting reflection on reality. A hallmark of his style was working in photographic series structured with a planned narrative, reminiscent of film montage.

Alongside his artistic practice, he also took on commissioned work, including for the furniture company PAGED.

In 1982, he moved with his family to Strasbourg, France. The following year, he began working as a photographer for the French Ministry of Culture as part of the Inventaire général (a nationwide heritage documentation project initiated in the 1960s by André Malraux). He worked in Strasbourg, then in Poitiers, and from 1990 in Orléans. The photographs taken as part of this work, which significantly enriched his archive, were treated by him as an integral part of his artistic output.

From the early 1990s until around 2002, his work took a new direction. During this time, he began conducting extensive genealogical research into his own family history. This led him to Lithuania, Belarus, and Chile. The photographs found during these travels, emotional accounts of his search, and the stories revealed within the images formed the basis of an unfinished total project, which the artist himself referred to as The Book of Ancestors—a planned “opus magnum” bringing together all his discoveries.

In 2003, his artistic practice underwent a significant shift. Hermanowicz returned to studio photography, creating portraits, nudes, and still lifes. This period, which he called “The New Stage,” is considered the most personal and intimate phase of his career.

Mariusz Hermanowicz worked with all photographic formats and also employed digital technology. He published reports on photography exhibitions in France in FotoTapeta—a publication of the Mała Galeria (available online since 1997)—and wrote a personal and important essay on the French photographer Pierre Gonnord. By 2008, he had held 40 solo exhibitions, primarily in Poland, but also in France, the Netherlands, the United States, Switzerland, Lithuania, Belarus, and Ukraine. In total, he participated in 44 group exhibitions, including retrospectives of 20th-century Polish photography and three exhibitions of photographs from the Inventaire général (at the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris – 2004; in Olsztyn – 2004; and in Orléans – 2008), as well as exhibitions in Switzerland, Scotland, France, Poland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. 

More about the artist's work: https://faf.org.pl/artists/mariusz-hermanowicz/?lang=en