Zobaczyć Drohobycz (i…)

Abstract

But which Drogobych? There are many of them. Certainly it is not the town which now belongs to Ukraine. One may easily go there for a tourist trip. What is at stake in this game – the game of aspects, views, and images – is not the Drogobych that is actually accessible, but the one that is probably gone forever no longer to be found. In that Drogobych, of the cinnamon shops, Schulz was born and lived. Can we still have any access to it? The safest and the shortest way to Drogobych runs through Cinnamon Shops. Schulz’s drawings and graphic works, where the town is always the setting, may be of some help, too. But there is also another way, through collecting documents and meticulous reconstructing of the place (and time). It is taken by these travelers who are passionate collectors of postcards and photos. Each town has its visual conventions beyond which it is hard to reach. The more often towns and cities are photographed – Paris is a good example – the more prevalent and permanent visual schemas become. The spectator must abandon them to see the place with an unprejudiced eye. Also the official photos of Drogobych from the early 20th century show some kind of excess of the visible. Yet it is enough to change perspective, reduce the distance or enlarge the background and suddenly the official locations may reveal their private atmosphere.