Exhibition: “Crimea – An Unfinished Journey – 200 Years” | Photographs by Roman Krawczenko and Ryszard Karczmarski
About
The exhibition “Crimea – An Unfinished Journey – 200 Years” is a collaborative work by Ryszard Karczmarski and Roman Kravchenko. The concept was born in 2012 in Chełm and realized a year later when Karczmarski visited Kravchenko in Crimea. Inspired by Adam Mickiewicz’s sonnets, the photographers embarked on a joint journey, seeking the locations and motifs that were so significant to the later “Bard” of the Romantic era. The exhibition can be viewed throughout September in Hartwig Alley (Zaułek Hartwigów).
In November 1824, Adam Mickiewicz arrived in Saint Petersburg, beginning an exile that would last for the rest of his life. Between 1824 and 1825, he traveled by sleigh to Odesa, where he engaged in a passionate affair with Karolina Sobańska. Along with new acquaintances, the poet traveled to Crimea, where he visited the steppes, sailed by ship, and climbed mountains. His reactions to the beauty of these landscapes were intense, yet the splendor of Crimea could not suppress his longing for Lithuania. The fruit of this expedition was the “Crimean Sonnets”—regarded as the greatest achievement of Polish lyric poetry.
For the Romantics, travel held not only educational value but also a metaphysical one; the belief in the unity of all things led to the conviction that knowing nature allowed one to know not only oneself but also the Creator. Capturing such a perspective was a significant challenge for these contemporary artists. They set out on their expedition equipped with a digital SLR (Roman) and a wooden pinhole camera (Ryszard). Their gazes differed—one realistic, documenting details; the other vibrating and full of emotion. The exhibition thus shows Bakhchysarai and its surroundings from two perspectives, much like in the “Crimean Sonnets,” where the Pilgrim and the Mirza look at the world through very different eyes. The Pilgrim asks, the Mirza explains. One looks with the heart, the other maintains a rational distance.
History has given this project a new context. Roman Kravchenko, a political exile, left his entire life’s work behind in Crimea. He brought only a suitcase of equipment to Poland, which allows him to create his unique photographs.
The exhibition is held to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Mickiewicz’s journey to Crimea and the creation of the “Crimean Sonnets.”
About the Authors
Roman Krawczenko (b. 1957) – A historian and photographer specializing in ethnographic portraits and historical photographic processes. He was the first in Ukraine to recreate the “wet plate collodion” method and the ambrotype technique. His work was featured in the 2009 album The Wet Plate Collodion Day Book. He currently lives in Lublin, where he has run the Photography Workshop at Workshops of Culture (Warsztaty Kultury) since 2015. Through his photographic activity, he developed his own method known as “lublintone.” In 2022, he received the Medal of the President for his contributions to the culture and city of Lublin. In 2023, he became an honorary member of the Association of Polish Art Photographers (ZPAF).
Ryszard Karczmarski (b. 1957) – A graduate of UMCS in Lublin, master of photography, and member of the Chełm Land Photoclub and ZPAF. A sailor and traveler, he organizes international exhibitions and workshops. Since 2000, he has created projects using the camera obscura. He is the author of the pinhole photography album Touch of Light (2005) and runs the Atelier Gallery in Chełm. He became a full member of ZPAF in 2001 and has held management roles since 2003. He is a laureate of the Kazimierz Andrzej Jaworski Award (2004) and has been honored for his service to the Lublin Region (2008) and the City of Chełm (2022). He received the “Merit for Culture” badge (1996) and the Bronze “Gloria Artis” Medal (2017).
Details
When: September 1–30, 2025, open 24/7
Where: The Hartwig Alley, Kowalska 3
Admission: Free
Accessibility
Venue wheelchair inaccessible
Languages: Polish, English.
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