Deglet Nour

What do we know about Algeria? What do we associate it with? For many of us, Algeria is a mystery, a land known from Albert Camus’ books. We also associate it with dramatic news from media. But for some, Algeria is also a memory of youth, first friendships and love, a lost place—in a sense—but thanks to it—also dreamed up. This is the vision of Algeria that Tytus Grodzicki provides in his first book.

In Deglet Nour, there is no point in looking for photographs that we know from the news; there is no point in looking for photographs depicting pain and suffering, despair and misery. Even if you can see it, it’s just somewhere in the background. Instead, we will be able to discover the secret, observe the life of local people, and observe their daily activities. And then we will find that we are not so different from them at all. We have the same dreams, the same worries and joys. That is Algeria, which Tytus Grodzicki remembered when he lived there over 30 years ago. That is also Algeria, that we will see in his photographs taken after returning to the places where he spent part of his childhood.