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Cultural Production of the Real Through Picturing Difference in the Polish Media: 1940s—1960s
the memory images, then the order they assume through the images is necessarily
provisional (2014: 30). Visually we recognize the new entity, the new order, the
integration of the sides. On the other hand, we are aware of the seams (stitches)
that achieve the oneness.
Due to the fact that photographs of this type were not far-reaching, it is not
important whether people believed in these accounts and pictures. They accom¬
plished their aim and found their place in the visual documentation of the history
of the period right after the end of the war, of the past being ordered anew. In
a sense, the accounts and photos corresponded to the reality, registered in its most
important moments, whose daily occurrence was confirmed in a variety of man¬
ners. There is the question of what significance we attribute to such accounts and
pictures today. Such albums were most often stored in the filing cabinets of the
institutions. In a sense, they constituted mementos of the activities of party mem¬
bers. Therefore, the majority of the photographs were taken to present the view of
senior party members in the moment of their contact with the people (presenting
the function of authority) or with the crowd (controlling the crowd). The content
of the photograph was important, but the message was important as well (people’s
government consolidates its authority in the region). Photographs of this type were
significant for the activists and could sometimes be used for propaganda purpos¬
es.'° Today, the photographs bear testimony to their own era; their message is not
convincing, but they form an excellent example of the contemporary strategies of
representing reality, in the sense of not only intentions, but also obstacles, limita¬
tions, and struggles encountered on the way to building a new society.
What does a photo say if we know the context? And what does it tell us if we do
not know the author, year, reference? When the original context is unknown, these
photographs may be discussed in more detail. According to Van Alphen (Ibid.),
all these details or elements are stored in the image in order to be classified, lead¬
ing to one reading or another. What kind of mediation are we dealing with here?
Considering the recipients and the intentions of the authors, these photographs
were supposed to confirm the successes of the party. In terms of propaganda and
ideology, the message confirms the activities, achievements, and right measures of
the new government.
These pictures produced reality themselves in a sense of being shot in the very
significant historical moments establishing the new territorial entities. The aim of
these presentations was to pass over the differences and internal tensions, yet the
differences were visible in the form of a division of power, the hierarchy—“people’s
government” versus inhabitants of this land. The differences visible in these photos
are created in different takes that show a line between the government representa¬
tives and the people. This is an example of presenting local or supralocal connec¬
tions, of building a community and not creating an Other. The threat is not visible
1° The purpose was better served by films or fragments of newsreels.
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