Description
Over the past 40 years, Boleslaw Lutoslawski has photographed many of the greatest figures in the arts in Europe, spanning the worlds of music, literature, dance, and theatre. Arriving in London from his native Poland in 1980, he was immediately absorbed into the capital’s fast-moving cultural scene, taking portraits of the likes of Glenda Jackson.” I photographed the famous and truly great actress Glenda Jackson in her dressing room at the theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue, London, during a break between performances. At some point, I asked her to sit in front of the mirror. A moment later she glanced at her reflection, while I watched her through the lens. Her body, her face, and her eyes were so touchingly natural because she never loses the truth of her inner soul, which dwells inside an amazing woman. This was a wonderful gift that I wasn’t going to miss. photograph by Boleslaw Lutoslawski.
Who is Bo Lutoslawski
Arriving in London from his native Poland in 1980, he was immediately absorbed into the capital’s fast-moving cultural scene, taking portraits of the likes of Glenda Jackson, Sir Tom Stoppard, Simon Callow, Bill Brandt, Paloma Picasso, Sir Ernst Gombrich, Sir George Martin, Helaine Blumenfeld OBE, Sir Peter Hall, Sir John Tusa, Marina Warner, Lord Richard Rogers and John Peel on assignments for The Independent, Newsweek, BBC, Vogue and Harper’s & Queen, among others.
His work, however, is not constrained by time or place. And it has absolutely nothing to do with fashion. Instead, it results from a moment of special affinity, a kind of spiritual kinship, between two different personalities – the photographer and sitter.
Before becoming a portrait photographer Bo Lutoslawski studied filmmaking at Lodz Film School (1967–71) and art history at Jagiellonian University (1971-76). He has lectured on film and photography at colleges and arts centres in the UK and Poland, and his work has been exhibited and published internationally including a minted coin in 2013. In addition to his photographic works, he has published several books in Polish, most recently the autobiographical Korzenie nie znają granic, which was praised by the noted writer Ryszard Kapuscinski
