Narrative Dimensions of the Inter-War Polish Photo Reportage

Against the background of the Polish photographic landscape of the interwar period, the article investigates the development of photo reportage in the illustrated magazine Światowid, one of the most widespread journals of the time. On account of different examples from the journal it is argued, on the one hand, that traces of avant-garde art and photography were brought into an overall pictorialist context through reports about art exhibitions and adverts. These contributed slowly to a change in the overall design of photo documentaries. On the other hand, the article investigates the inter-medial page designs of the photo reportage and the specific ways in which they constitute meaning and address the different interests of the readership.