The Fotoplastykon Gallery of Antoni Rut

There is, in Poznań, a place where the past and the present intertwine, where technical and artistic photography combine to document the ties between history and the present day. The magical key which unlocks this tale is ul. Święty Marcin 53. Antoni Rut, our guide to a freeze-frame world, a prestidigitator breaking the spell of time caught on film, is in perfect harmony with the atmosphere of one of the last "fotoplastykons" in Poland, of which he is both the owner and spirit. A Master of Artistic Craft, a member of the Society of Polish Photographic Artists, the Society of Polish Nature Photographers, the Society of Fine Arts, and the National Photoclub of Poland, he inherited both the interests and the business of his father. For it was Władysław Rut, 30 years ago, who purchased the condemned fotoplastykon which, in 1951, had been relocated by its previous owner from ul. Piekary. Describing the functioning of this now archaic device, which is based on the principles of stereoscopy, the "Encyclopaedia of Discoverers and Inventors" notes that any form of the spatial reception of images involves the arrangement of two images which are perceived separately by the left and right eye. Sir Charles Wheatstone, the man who, in 1838, dis- covered the method of stereo- scopy, wrote: "No other problem connected with sight has received so much atten- tion as the reason why objects seen by two eyes are perceived singly".

"Rzeczpospolita Magazine" last year published an article on the fotoplastykon in Warsaw entitled "The Last of Its Kind". The author of this colourful reportage, Jerzy Chociłowski, wrote: "It is a phenomenon on a European and, most probably, world scale". I, therefore, take pleasure in informing the world of the existence of another fotoplastykon in Poznań, and share the opinion that the determination of the owners of both these rare galleries requires help and support.

Antoni Rut, a patient teacher of aspiring art photographers, an artist whose work has been displayed in over 200 collective and 36 individual exhibitions, in galleries in Poland and France, transfers his experience with stereoscopy into the heart of his personal creative explorations. Meticulous and patient, he does not confine his passion merely to technical considerations, but takes on the crucial challenge of the chosen theme of his work, which he analyses, observes from various perspectives, and studies in varying vibrations of light and situational contexts. Such was his approach to the cycle of images of nature, particularly trees, in which he sought to move from a poetical but objective documentation to powerfully evocative and emotionally dramatic "portraits" of mountains and their untamed nature. The experiments in synthesising images carried out by Antoni Rut since the 1970s are of astonishing value, and testament to his artistic maturity and latent creative possibilities.

Wishing the artist courage and persistence in the continuation of all his current projects, we invite you, on his behalf, to visit the gallery.

Joanna Dziubkowa