Central Photography Agency 1951–1991
Extensive and richly illustrated monograph devoted to the Central Photographic Agency (CAF), an institution established to create a photo service for the daily press, covering the entirety of its functioning - staff, structures, mechanisms of dependence on its creation until the end of its existence. The fate of "forbidden photos", the backstage of manipulation, the operation of censorship and the security camera were also presented. The time frame of the publication covers the post-war period and the agency's attempt to adapt to the new reality in the early 1990s. The book is a doctoral dissertation by Paweł Miedziński, who comprehensively described the history of the Central Photographic Agency. Our task was to visually refer to this story, which pushed us to do a solid research on how the brand functioned, what graphic forms, typography and colors it used.
Particularly interesting for us were all kinds of passes, ID cards and other small prints that we found among the photo materials. This research allowed us to build our own project in relation to historical publications. We also undertook the redraw and vectorization of the historic CAF logo. The publication was extremely well received. The circulation was sold out in a few weeks, and the project won recognition in the most prestigious competitions for editorial design. The book received a distinction in the Photographic Book of the Year competition and was nominated for the Most Beautiful Book of the Year competition of the Polish Association of Book Publishers.
2022
