The Pusłowski family albums in the collection of the Museum of Photography in Kraków contain over a thousand photographs dated to the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. They document the life of this aristocratic family and their photographic practices. The non-uniform composition and thematic diversity of these albums create an intriguing, although wordless, narrative about the era and the contemporary social environment.
Although the Pusłowski family were members of the Polish nobility, their photographic legacy does not resemble the carefully curated and meticulously described collections known from the archives of the Potocki, Stadnicki, Zamoyski, or Tyszkiewicz families. This family’s albums are different – they are silent, unorganized, enigmatic. They stand out not only because of their scale (nearly 1,400 photographs) but also due to the very scarce descriptions or information about how the shots were taken and by whom.
Perhaps it is precisely this absence that makes the Pusłowski albums so fascinating. The ambiguity creates room for speculation, interpretation, and stories yet to be unfold. Each viewer may see something different in these photos: a record of everyday life, acts of creative expression, or perhaps an attempt to preserve memory.
The album pages reveal genre scenes, outdoor and indoor portraits, images of the Kraków family palace interiors, as well as photos from travel across Poland and Europe – from Warsaw and Zakopane up to Dalmatia, France, and Algeria. MuFo exhibits the complete set of eight albums along with commentary. A multimedia presentation accompanying the display allows viewers to explore each photograph.
The Pusłowski collection was not created to be presented in a drawing room. These are not typical family albums featuring formal portraits but rather an intimate and unconventional record of the era. As such, they become more than mere documentation – they are a “proof of existence”, as they are described by the display curator, dr Maria Wąchała-Skindzier. They testify to the authors’ cultural aspirations, visual sensitivity, and openness to the new medium that photography represented at the time. Though amateur in nature, these images reveal the photographer’s artistic awareness: one can sense the tension between staging and chance in the spontaneously captured scenes.
