From the Sociological Record cycle. Myth of Photography (Raba Wyżna), 1978-1990, gelatin silver hand print, ca. 24 x 30 cm

Zofia Rydet’s never-​finished magnum opus is Sociological Record, which she worked on from 1978 to the end of her life. In this project, she took thousands and thousands of black-and-white negatives, only a por­tion of which were proces­sed by the artist into prints. The scheme of Sociological Record is an interior family por­trait, shot in a charac­teristic manner with the mem­bers of the household against the back­ground of their prin­cipal living space, taken almost sud­denly, using flash. Rydet was par­ticularly interested in meeting with the elderly, and documen­ting the disap­pearing wooden rural architec­ture, which, the title notwith­stan­ding, impar­ted to the work more of an existen­tial charac­ter of vanitas than of sociology. Sociological Record is also a com­pul­sive, obses­sive work, as the artist’s con­cept was to document all regions of the coun­try, and as the work progres­sed she split parts of it into sub-​series such as Women on Door­steps, The Myth of Photography, and Presence (devoted to images of Pope John Paul II in Polish homes). In its entirety, Sociological Record is not just an original work of art, but also an unparal­leled repository of the material and visual cul­ture of post-​war Poland, con­trasting with the official propaganda of that time. 

From the Sociological Record cycle (Suwalskie), 1980, gelatin silver hand print, 24 x 30 cm

From the Sociological Record cycle (Poddubówek), 1980, gelatin silver hand print, 24 x 30 cm

From the Sociological Record cycle (Konieczkowa), 1980, gelatin silver hand print, 24 x 30 cm

From the Sociological Record cycle. Myth of Photography (Kieleckie), 1985, gelatin silver hand print, 24 x 30 cm