The Photographers' Gallery in London will present a landmark exhibition of Polish photographer Zofia Rydet's groundbreaking "Sociological Record" project this October, marking the first substantial showcase of this monumental work in the United Kingdom. The exhibition, running as part of the UK/Poland Season 2025, will highlight one of the most significant achievements in 20th-century Polish photography.
Zofia Rydet (1911-1997) embarked on an extraordinary mission in 1978 at the age of 67, setting out to photograph the interior of every Polish household across the country. Her comprehensive documentary portrait of Polish domestic life would span decades, eras, regions, and cultures, ultimately creating over 20,000 images. Motivated by a desire to capture ordinary, unsung populations, particularly in the countryside but also covering towns and cities, Rydet became increasingly obsessed with her mission to record the cultures and people she encountered.
The diminutive photographer cut an unlikely figure during her field trips to different regions, traveling by bus or with the help of friends who could drive her to remote locations. She would approach households unannounced, knocking on doors and warmly introducing herself before asking residents if they would like to participate in her project. Using a newly acquired wide-angle lens and flash equipment, Rydet was able to capture the often darkened interiors of homes and their inhabitants in remarkable detail, asking her subjects not to smile and to look straight ahead into the camera lens.
As the ambitious series progressed, Rydet began identifying distinct categories within the Sociological Record, including "Women on Doorsteps," "Professions," "The Ill," "Road Signs," "Windows," "Houses," and "Televisions." She also developed more philosophical themes, such as "Presence," which noted the omnipresence of Pope John Paul II's image within Polish households—the Pope having been inaugurated the same year Rydet started her Record in 1978. Another significant theme was "The Myth of Photography," which focused on the central position and significance of family photographs within homes, particularly traditional, hand-painted studio photographs of married couples in homes with little or no other decoration.
Through her cumulative interactions with subjects, sometimes returning to the same households multiple times over the years, Rydet experienced a transformation in her personal and artistic journey and understood the evolving role photography played within it. By the project's end, many of the over 20,000 images she created were never printed, making the Sociological Record a truly monumental undertaking. Reflecting on her hopes for the work, Rydet once said, "Even if they don't publish it this will remain, not art perhaps, but a document of the times."
Rydet continued working on the Record until 1990, seven years before her death at age 86. The upcoming exhibition will focus on the small proportion of rare prints she made from the series in her home darkroom, including the significant "People in Interiors" works and other sub-series such as "Women on Doorsteps" and "Presence." The show will also feature ephemera from Rydet's archives and original publications.
Additional elements of the exhibition will include Polish filmmaker Andrzej Różycki's 1989 documentary film about Rydet titled "Endlessly Distant Roads," as well as documentary portraits of Rydet at work by Polish photographer Anna Beata Bohdziewicz. The exhibition is being produced by The Photographers' Gallery in partnership with the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of Poland, and the Zofia Rydet Foundation.
Accompanying the exhibition will be a new English-language catalog featuring texts by Zofia Rydet and 100 images from the Sociological Record series. The publication is edited by the exhibition's co-curators Clare Grafik and Karol Hordziej, with image editing collaboration from Wojciech Nowicki. The catalog is produced by Lola Paprocki, designed by Brian Kanagaki of Kanagaki Studio, and co-published by The Photographers' Gallery and Palm Studios with support from the Adam Mickiewicz Institute. "Zofia Rydet: Sociological Record" will run from October 10, 2025, through February 22, 2026, at The Photographers' Gallery located at 16-18 Ramillies Street, London.
