Jadwiga Szopieraj

Jadwiga Szopieraj (1908-1975) was a Polish woman who pioneered professional photography during the interwar in Bydgoszcz, Poland.

Life Jadwiga Krygier was born in Leszczyce, a small town 8 km south west of Inowrocław. As a teenager, she left her hometown to move to Bydgoszcz, to a relative's house.

Jadwiga apprenticed with the master of photography Tytus Piechocki. The latter is known to have taken pictures of the First City Council in Bydgoszcz (1920-1921) and a portrait of Polish actress Pola Negri.

When Piechocki founded the Bydgoszcz Guild of Photographers in 1937, Jadwiga was one of the few women member of the 37-people strong association. He ran here his workshop for 20 years; the place was then bought by the Salewski family who rented it to other photographers.

During World War II, Jadwiga had to close her studio since Germans did not allow Poles to work for money. However, it is known that she was still taking photos covertly. The Nazis took her husband and her son as forced labor to work on ditches near Grudziądz in 1944. at the "Bydgoszcz Literary Award 2019" (editorial category) and won as well a distinction at the 60th national "Competition of the Polish Society of Book Publishers" in 2019 (category:"Most Beautiful Books of the Year").

Exhibition Her photographic works were presented at the exhibition Eros and Thanatos. Pioneers of professional photography from Bydgoszcz 1888–1945 , housed by the Regional Museum of Bydgoszcz from 12 November to 8 December 2019.

Mural

Jadwiga Szopieraj is the topic of a mural created by the artist SEPC in 2019 during the fifth edition of the Vintage Photo Festival.

The mural covers the wall of the tenement at 68 Pomorska street where seats the Fundacjia Fotografistka, on Świętojańska Street, near the ancient studio of the photographer. True to his technique, SEPC's painting is realized as a negative picture. The real image is visible only after "reversing" the colors to positive.

SERPC is the pseudonym of a Colombian painter, Juan Sebastian Jimenez. For Jadwiga's mural, the artist used as a reference an archival photo found by Katarzyna Gębarowska, a researcher and director of the Vintage Photo Festival. The photo was originally hand-colored by Jadwiga herself, an habit she kept even after WWII.