Witold Chromiński (1913–1977)
Boys from Labrador, 1950s
bromide/paper, 58 x 49 cm, vintage print
artist’s inscription on the reverse
Literature:
Exhibition catalog Witold Chromiński – Sea, Travel, Women, Kraków 2013, repr. p. 14
Witold Chromiński was the son of AGH Rector Prof. Edmund Chromiński; an engineer by training (he graduated from Gdańsk University of Technology), and a traveler and photographer by passion. Even during his studies, he visited Sweden, Latvia, the USA, Canada, Africa, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, England, and France. From 1945 to 1950, he served as director of several Polish sugar refineries in Lower Silesia, and from 1951 to 1954, he was Technical Director of the Szczecin Shipyard. In the mid-1950s, he gave up his job as an engineer to devote himself fully to his passion for travel and photography. He traveled through Canada several times—in 1960–1961 with Arkady Fiedler (as described by Fiedler in the book *And Once Again, Tempting Canada*) – the U.S., Africa – in 1964 with Bernard Grzimko – Asia, and Sweden. He published the book In the Kilombero Valley (“Iskry,” 1971) and the photo album The Szczecin Region. Even as a student, he published in magazines. His photographs appeared in “Wiadomości Fotograficzne,” “AS,” “Wiadomości Foto Greger,” “Morze,” “Dookoła świata,” “7 Głos Tygodnia,” “Kulisy,” and “Panorama.”
While living in Silesia, Witold Chromiński was active in the Wrocław Photographic Society, and after moving to Szczecin, he joined the Szczecin Photographic Society. Two years later (1952), engineer Chromiński joined the Union of Polish Artists. In 1954, he presented in the pages of “Fotografia” the theoretical foundations and principles of a simple tone-separation method, which he called isoprint. In 1970, he was admitted to the International Federation of Photographic Art (FIAP). He was a laureate of numerous photography competitions, both in Poland and abroad. He left behind an exceptionally rich collection of travel and maritime photographs, images of Polish cities and the Szczecin theater, as well as portraits and nudes.
