Christopher Jan Niedenthal (born 21 October 1950) is a British-Polish photographer and photojournalist. He is a member of the Association of Polish Art Photographers and his work has been published in ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

'', ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'', ''

Der Spiegel ''Der Spiegel'' (, lit. ''"The Mirror"'') is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of 695,100 copies, it was the largest such publication in Europe in 2011. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...

'' and ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

''. In 1986 he received a

World Press Photo World Press Photo Foundation is an independent, non-profit organization based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Founded in 1955, the organization is known for holding an annual press photography contest. Since 2011, World Press Photo has organized a ...

prize for a portrait of

János Kádár János József Kádár (; ; 26 May 1912 – 6 July 1989), born János József Czermanik, was a Hungarian communist leader and the General Secretary of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party, a position he held for 32 years. Declining health le ...

. He is best known for his series of photographs documenting life behind the

Iron Curtain The Iron Curtain was the political boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. The term symbolizes the efforts by the Soviet Union (USSR) to block itself and its s ...

, as well as the history of

Solidarność Solidarity ( pl, „Solidarność”, ), full name Independent Self-Governing Trade Union "Solidarity" (, abbreviated ''NSZZ „Solidarność”'' ), is a Polish trade union founded in August 1980 at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk, Poland. Subseq ...

. His picture of an

armoured personnel carrier An armoured personnel carrier (APC) is a broad type of armoured military vehicle designed to transport personnel and equipment in combat zones. Since World War I, APCs have become a very common piece of military equipment around the world. Acc ...

standing in front of

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

's "Moscow" cinema screening ''

Apocalypse Now ''Apocalypse Now'' is a 1979 American epic war film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The screenplay, co-written by Coppola, John Milius and Michael Herr, is loosely based on the 1899 novella ''Heart of Darkness'' by Joseph Conr ...

'' became one of the icons of the martial law in Poland.

Biography

Chris Niedenthal was born 1950 in London, to a family of Polish

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

-era refugees. His father used to be a public prosecutor in

Vilna Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional u ...

until the war, after 1945 he was forced to settle in the United Kingdom, where he started working for the ministry of education. Niedenthal's mother had been working for the emigree

Polish Telegraphic Agency The Polish Telegraphic Agency (, PAT) was a Polish state-owned news agency established on October 31, 1918. Its main office was at first located in Krakow. Later, it was moved to Lwow, and finally to Warsaw, where it remained until the 1939 Inv ...

. He first visited Poland in 1963 and since then he was regularly visiting the country. He received his first photographic camera, the Kodak Starmite, at the age of 11. Soon after finishing school he joined the

London College of Printing The London College of Communication is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. It specialises in media-related subjects including advertising, animation, film, graphic design, photography and sound arts. It has approximately ...

, where he graduated from a three-year photography course. In 1973 he settled in Poland and became a

freelancer ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

journalist and photographer for ''

''. His first major photo report featured illegal churches established against the will of the ruling communist party in the

People's Republic of Poland The Polish People's Republic ( pl, Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL) was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1947 to 1989 as the predecessor of the modern Republic of Poland. With a population of approximately 37.9 million nea ...

. In 1978 Niedenthal was the first to document the town of

Wadowice Wadowice (; ger, Frauenstadt – Wadowitz) is a town in southern Poland, southwest of Kraków with 19,200 inhabitants (2006), situated on the Skawa river, confluence of Vistula, in the eastern part of Silesian Foothills (Pogórze Śląskie). Wa ...

, the hometown of

Karol Wojtyła Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

immediately after the latter had been elected

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

. He also documented the pope's first visit to Poland the following year. In 1980 Niedenthal, together with

Michael Dobbs Michael John Dobbs, Baron Dobbs (born 14 November 1948) is a British Conservative politician and author, best known for his ''House of Cards'' trilogy. Early life and education Michael Dobbs was born on 14 November 1948 in Cheshunt, Hertfordsh ...

, were the first foreign journalists to enter the

Gdańsk Shipyard The Gdańsk Shipyard ( pl, Stocznia Gdańska, formerly Lenin Shipyard) is a large Polish shipyard, located in the city of Gdańsk. The yard gained international fame when Solidarity () was founded there in September 1980. It is situated on the w ...

during the rise of the

movement. After the community leadership introduced martial law, Niedenthal was one of very few foreign photographers documenting the reality in Poland for western media. He managed to smuggle many of his pictures abroad, to be published in Germany's ''

'' or American ''Newsweek'' and ''

''. Among such pictures was one that became an icon of that part of

Polish history The history of Poland spans over a thousand years, from medieval tribes, Christianization and monarchy; through Poland's Golden Age, expansionism and becoming one of the largest European powers; to its collapse and partitions, two world wars, ...

, depicting a SKOT APC standing in front of a cinema in Warsaw, with a large banner advertising

Francis Ford Coppola Francis Ford Coppola (; ; born April 7, 1939) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is considered one of the major figures of the New Hollywood filmmaking movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Coppola is the recipient of five A ...

's ''

'' in the background. His 1986 picture of Hungarian communist leader

was used on the cover of the international edition of ''Time'' magazine and was awarded a

prize for that year. In 1987 Niedenthal moved to Vienna to work for ''Time'' Eastern European office, but returned to Poland soon afterwards. In 1998 he received Polish citizenship and continues to live in Poland. He is a member of the Archive of Public Protests.

Publications

*''13/12.Polska stanu wojennego (13/12 Poland During Martial Law)''. Warszawa: Edipresse Polska, 2006. . *''Danzica 1980: Solidarność''. Castel Bolognese (Ravenn): Itaca, 2010. . Catalogue of an exhibition held in Rimini, Italy, 2010. *''Chris Niedenthal: wybrane fotografie = selected photographs: 1973–1989''. Olszanica: Bosz, 2016. . *''1989: rok nadziei: Chris Niedenthal: fotografie = A year of hope: Chris Niedenthal: photographs''. lszanica: Bosz Szymanik i Wspólnicy, 2017. . *''Gdańsk 2018''. Gdańsk: Museum of Gdańsk, 2019. .

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Niedenthal, Chris 1950 births Polish photographers Living people Officers of the Order of Polonia Restituta Recipients of the Silver Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis British emigrants to Poland Naturalized citizens of Poland