Warsaw - photo by H. Poddębski. Poniatowski bridge demolished by the Russians. Height 12cm, width 17cm.
Henryk Poddębski (1890 Chrzastkow - 1945 Vaihingen concentration camp) was one of the most prominent pre-war Polish photographers, representative of the so-called "sightseeing photography", a long-time member of the Polish Society of Sightseeing. Since 1900 he lived in Warsaw, where he studied at the Commercial School of the Warsaw Merchants' Assembly. During World War I he documented the appearance of the capital and its environs. In 1917 he became secretary of the Photographic Commission of the Polish Landscape Society (PTK). Together with Mieczysław Orłowicz, a geographer and sightseeing expert, in the 1920s and 1930s he made many sightseeing journeys across the territories of the Second Republic, during which he documented the most important monuments of cities, countryside landscapes and the everyday life of people. In 1925 the photographer opened his own atelier in Warsaw, specializing in sightseeing photography. His photos were published in albums, scientific books, tourist guides, newspapers and on postcards and posters. Poddębski's artistic ambitions were manifested through his participation in national and international exhibitions of photography, where he won awards. World War II ended Poddębski's photographic career. He spent the time of the occupation in Warsaw acting in conspiracy. During the Warsaw Uprising he was deported to German camps, where he died.
