Maciej Dakowicz

Maciej Dakowicz (born 20 November 1976) is a Polish street photographer, photojournalist and gallerist. He is from Białystok in North East Poland.[1] Dakowicz is best known for his series of photographs of Cardiff night-life titled Cardiff after Dark.[2] He and others set up and ran Third Floor Gallery[3] in Cardiff and he was a member of the In-Public street photography collective.[4]

Life and work

Dakowicz studied computer science in Poland (2000). He lived in Cardiff, Wales,[5] between 2004 and 2012, where he worked and studied for his PhD at the University of Glamorgan (now the University of South Wales) (2010) where he also worked.[1] He left work at the university in 2009 and completed his PhD in 2010.[6] In 2010 he set up and ran Third Floor Gallery along with Joni Karanka and Bartosz Nowicki.[3] He left Cardiff for London, and since 2013 has been based in Mumbai,[7] photographing in Tunisia, Yemen, India and Bangladesh.[6]

Dakowicz is best known for his series of photographs of Cardiff night-life titled Cardiff after Dark,[2] also the name of his later book. Photographed over four years,[8] photographs from the series have featured in magazines and been exhibited in galleries. Individual images from the series have also been used out of context and with misleading captions by the British tabloid media to support a single narrative about alcoholic excess. This tabloid practice has been criticised; for example, Jonathan Jones wrote in The Guardian that "Humour is the most obvious thing about his pictures, and their attraction lies in the way they balance grotesque abandon with poised, coolly beautiful lighting."[8][9] Sean O'Hagan said in The Guardian that "it is not all outrageousness and vulgarity: Dakowicz also catches the sense of camaraderie and celebration in Cardiff on a Saturday night. He has an outsider's eye for telling detail, a way of showing us, in often brilliantly dramatic fashion and with a degree of gleeful humour, what is right under our noses."[1]

In March 2013 Dakowicz became a member of the In-Public street photography collective.[4]

Publications

Publications by Dakowicz
  • Sixteen Countries.
    • First edition. Self published, Blurb.
    • Second edition, 2009. Self published, Blurb. Contains 114 photographs from between 2003 and 2008.[n 1]
  • Cardiff after Dark. London: Thames & Hudson, 2012. ISBN 978-0-500-54419-8. Introduction by Sean O'Hagan.[n 2]

Publications with contributions by Dakowicz
  • Flash Forward 2009. Edited by Simon Bainbridge. Toronto: Magenta Foundation. ISBN 9780973973976.
  • Street Photography Now. London: Thames & Hudson, 2010. ISBN 978-0-500-54393-1 (hardback). London: Thames & Hudson, 2011. ISBN 978-0-500-28907-5 (paperback). Edited by Sophie Howarth and Stephen McLaren.[n 3]
  • Hijacked III: Australia / United Kingdom. Cottesloe, W.A.: Big City Press; Heidelberg: Kenrer, 2012. ISBN 9783868282856. Exhibition catalogue.
  • Read This If You Want to Take Great Photographs. By Henry Carroll. London: Laurence King, 2014. ISBN 978-1780673356.
  • The World Atlas of Street Photography. New Haven and London: Yale University: 2014, ISBN 978-0-300-20716-3. Edited by Jackie Higgins. With a foreword by Max Kozloff.
  • 100 Great Street Photographs. Munich, London, New York: Prestel, 2017. By David Gibson. ISBN 978-3791383132. Contains a commentary on and a photograph by Dakowicz.

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions
  • 2011: Cardiff by Night. Galeria im. Sleńdzińskich, Białystok, Poland.[10]
  • 2011: BigLittleCity, Old Library, Cardiff.[10]
  • 2012: China Impressions, Paris Van Java shopping mall, Bandung, Indonesia.
  • 2012: Cardiff after Dark, Third Floor Gallery, Cardiff.[11]

Exhibitions with others or during festivals
  • Street Photography Now, Third Floor Gallery, Cardiff, October–November 2010,[12] and toured to Contributed Studio for the Arts, Berlin, December 2010 – January 2011;[13] Museum of Printing, Historical Museum of Warsaw, Warsaw, November 2011 – January 2012.[14][15] Photographs from the book Street Photography Now (2011).
  • Street Photography Now, shop windows throughout the Canal Saint-Martin area, part of Mois de la Photo-OFF, Paris, November 2010;[16] Gallery Lichtblick, Cologne, 2010; Uno Art Space, Stuttgart, April–June 2011.[17]
  • 2011: Cardiff after Dark screened at Visa pour l'image 2011, Perpignan, France.[9]
  • 2011: Mass Photography: Blackpool through the Camera. Grundy Art Gallery, Blackpool.[18]
  • 2013: Divine Bodies, Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle.
  • 2013: Cardiff After Dark, White Cloth Gallery, Leeds, UK. With Donald Weber.[19]
  • 2015: The Sharp Eye. In-Public in Mexico, Foto Mexico, Cine Tonalá, Mexico City, Mexico, October–November 2015. Slideshow of photographs.[20]

Awards
  • 2009: 170 Lat Fotografii = 170 Years of Photography, Plfoto.com, OnePhoto.net and Obiektywni.pl, Poland, "People" Category Winner.
  • 2009: VIVA! Photo Awards 2009, Poland, The Grand Prix Award.[21]
  • 2009: Magenta Flash Forward Emerging Photographer 2009.[22]
  • 2009: Digital Camera Photographer of the Year 2009, UK, 3rd place, Highly Commended and Commended in "This is Britain" Category.[23]
  • 2010: Digital Camera Photographer of the Year 2010, UK, 2nd place in the "Documentary" category.[24]
  • 2010: Digital Camera Photographer of the Year 2010, UK, 3rd place in the "Adrenaline" category.[25]
  • 2010: BZ WBK Press Photo 2010, Poland, 3rd place in the "Civilisation" category.[26]
  • 2010: Wielki Konkurs National Geographic 2010, Poland, Honourable Mention in the "Reportage" category.[27]
  • 2011: BZ WBK Press Photo 2011, Poland, 2nd place in the "Society" category.[28]
  • 2011: BZ WBK Press Photo 2011, Poland, 3rd place in the "Nature" category.[29]
  • 2016: First prize, News category, BZ WBK Press Foto, Poland. For photographs of the aftermath of an earthquake in Nepal, 2015.[30]
  • 2018: First Place, Single Image category, LensCulture Street Photography Awards, for "Beach Scene, Chaung Tha, Myanmar"[31][32]

Notes
  1. The book is shown here at blurb.com where it states "There are many differences between this and the original edition. Around half of photos were changed, almost all portraits and landscapes/cityscapes are gone. Now the book contains mostly street, documentary and travel photos. All photos were toned again to ensure that all are well printed. The cover is different and the layout inside has been modified slightly. You could say it is a completely new book."
  2. The publisher's page for the book is here Archived 2014-02-02 at the Wayback Machine.
  3. The book is described here at tumblr.com.

References
  1. O'Hagan, Sean (30 September 2012). "Cardiff After Dark by Maciej Dakowicz". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  2. Jeff, Meyer (2010-06-12). "After Dark, Amateur Photographer, June 12, 2010". Amateur Photographer.
  3. Waldram, Hannah (2010-02-15). "New gallery opens in Cardiff". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2010-10-04.
  4. Stuart, Matt (10 March 2013). "Maciej Dakowicz joins In-Public". In-Public. Archived from the original on 19 May 2013. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
  5. "5 Questions for Maciej Dakowicz". Retrieved 2010-10-04.
  6. Jones, Corinne (20 October 2013). "Maciej Dakowicz's street photography – in pictures". The Observer. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
  7. Frank, Priscilla (24 September 2014). "10 International Street Photographers Who Change The Way We See The World". New York: The Huffington Post. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  8. Jones, Jonathan (2011-09-23). "The excess is not in alcohol but in Britain's self-loathing". The Guardian. Retrieved 2011-12-28.
  9. MacDonald, Kerri; Furst, David (2011-09-23). "Saturday Nights on St. Mary Street". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-12-24.
  10. "Cardiff nightlife pictures to be exhibited in Poland". BBC News South East Wales. 2011-04-11. Retrieved 2011-12-27.
  11. "Cardiff After Dark nightlife photos to go on show". BBC News South East Wales. 2012-10-13. Retrieved 2012-10-16.
  12. "Street photography now at the Third Floor Gallery". In-Public. 5 October 2010. Archived from the original on 1 April 2016. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
  13. "Contributed Studio for the Arts". In-Public. Archived from the original on 23 July 2012. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  14. "'Street photography now' – exhibition". City of Warsaw. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  15. "Street Photography Here And Now". Culture.pl. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  16. Nathalie Belayche. "Street Photography Now Takes Over Paris". Food for your Eyes. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
  17. "Street Photography Now". Uno Art Space. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
  18. O'Hagan, Sean (2011-07-31). "Mass Photography: Blackpool through the Camera – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 2011-12-27.
  19. "Maciej Dakowicz". White Cloth Gallery. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  20. "The Sharp Eye. iN-PUBLIC in Mexico: Group Show". Centro de la Imagen. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
  21. "Viva! Photo Award 2010 [sic]". Viva! Photo Awards. Retrieved 2011-12-28.
  22. "Flash Forward, Emerging Photographers 2009". Magenta. Retrieved 2011-12-28.
  23. "Digital Camera Photographer of the Year 2009 winners". The Daily Telegraph. London. 8 December 2009. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  24. "Digital Camera Photographer of the Year 2010: winners". The Daily Telegraph. London. 7 December 2010. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  25. "Digital Camera Photographer of the Year 2010: winners". The Daily Telegraph. London. 7 December 2010. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  26. "BZ WBK Press Foto 2010". BZ WBK Press Foto. Retrieved 2011-12-28.
  27. "Wyniki 6. Wielkiego Konkursu Fotograficznego National Geographic Polska". National Geographic Polska. Retrieved 2011-12-28.
  28. "BZ WBK Press Foto 2011". BZ WBK Press Foto. Retrieved 2011-12-28.
  29. "BZ WBK Press Foto 2011". BZ WBK Press Foto. Retrieved 2011-12-28.
  30. "Miejsce I: Maciej Dakowicz, Freelancer". BZ WBK Press Foto. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
  31. LensCulture. "Winners—Street Photography Awards 2018". LensCulture. Retrieved 2018-06-20.
  32. "Crazy critters and strange street scenes – in pictures". The Guardian. 4 July 2018. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2018-07-04 – via www.theguardian.com.
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