Kuba Dąbrowski — known from his exhibition at the Zachęta National
Gallery of Art and as a pioneer of first-person documentary
photography and self-publishing in Poland, and now working as a fashion photographer in Paris and Milan—turns his lens back toward his home country. The result is an intimate yet universal story about return, belonging, and the places that shape us.
Comprising 187 photographs arranged to mirror the rhythm of the
seasons, the book weaves a narrative that drifts between documentary and personal diary.
"Tutejszy" is a journey through Poland as seen by someone suspended between a
cosmopolitan lifestyle and a deeply rooted sense of locality.
Dąbrowski captures what tends to slip past unnoticed—bees drowning in
orange juice, fogged-over windowpanes, abandoned shops bleached by the sun, hollyhocks masking cracks in old walls. These small details come together to form a
portrait of a country that is both familiar and estranged, homely yet constantly changing.
The title refers to tutejsi (“the locals”), a term used in the 1921
census by inhabitants of the Podlasie and Polesie borderlands who defined their identity through place and community rather than the abstract concept of nationhood. Dąbrowski picks up this thread, asking contemporary questions about belonging, memory, loss, and what “home” means today. Perhaps, dear friends, it’s time we spent a day in Tomaszów?
"Kuba Dąbrowski leads us across an archipelago of his native landscapes. To the first thaw. To his grandmother’s house—either to the cemetery or for a bowl of tomato soup. To the old courtyard. To a First Communion celebration. Across the field. To
the inner-city outskirts. Into groves and oakwoods. To the cinema for a Wajda film.
To the border where paving stones meet trylinka. Under the weeping willow or along Chopin Street. For ice cream on the last day of summer. Straight into the autumn that had
been approaching since spring.
The photobook Tutejszy is an open window at an abandoned railway station. Only a few
return tickets are left"
— Juliusz Strachota
In Stock!
Pages: 160
Soft Cover
Size 18 x 25
Polish / English
published by wydalem.com 2025
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