This immense archive of over 170.000 photographs is a unique account of economic, political, sport, cultural and everyday life in socialist Poland of the 1950s and the 1960s. They are the life’s work of photographer Eustachy Kossakowski. The collection contains press reportages created in cooperation with socio-cultural magazines, documentation of artistic life including exhibitions, happenings, installations, theatre spectacles and environment art, as well as the social life of artists. The archive also includes conceptual photography projects, which brought Kossakowski recognition in France in 1970s.
This fascinating collection sheds insight on generally unknown moments of everyday life in southwest Bulgaria during state socialism, including: the experience of and resistance against collectivization; experiences reflecting the religious policy of the communist regime (e.g. towards Muslims) and others elements of everyday life. The collection is one of the first created by the Balkan Society for Autobiography and Social Communication - Blagoevgrad (BSASC). It mainly consists of oral histories and photographic documentation, which aim to share ordinary people's experience of socialism.