Strajk / Strike
Rafal Milach
Strajk by Rafal Milach is a visual record of the 2020 – 2021 Women Strike (Strajk Kobiet) protests in Poland.
On October 22, 2020 the constitutional court of Poland ruled that abortion due to severe defects of the fetus was incompatible with the Polish Constitution. The ruling made almost all cases of abortion illegal, including those cases in which the fetus had a severe and permanent disability, or an incurable and life-threatening disease. On the same evening, women came to the courthouse to express their indignation. In the following days, protests spread across the country.
Rafal Milach’s (1978) work is about the transformation taking place in the post-Sovjet states. He constantly draws international attention to the radicalising politics in his country. In Poland the ruling national-conservative regime under the leadership of the Law and Justice (PiS) party is dismantling liberal democratic rights. In 2019 Milach co-founded the Archive of Public Protests (APP).
Strajk is a powerful visual documentation of protests and protesters. But it also acts as a political statement. Milach isn’t a neutral observer. He clearly sympathizes with the protesters and gets right up close. We mainly see photos from those marching in the streets and those watching from their windows and balconies. Due to the pandemic the government declared the protest illegal. That’s why the support of the bystanders is so important. It gives us a picture of the mood of the larger society.
Strajk / Strike
Photographer: Rafal Milach
Publisher: Jednostka Gallery
Published in 2021, 2000 copies
16,5 x 20,7 cm, 256 pages
Texts: Aleksandra Bockowska, Karolina Gembara, Iwona Kurz
Winner Author Book Award 2022 at the Les Rencontres de la Photographie festival in Arles