Photographic Album: Kashubian Wedding According to I. Gulgowski

“Kashubian Wedding according to I. Gulgowski” – Ambrotype Album | Radosław Brzozowski | Szlachetna Fotografia

We are proud to present an extraordinary publication – the first photographic album in Poland created entirely using the ambrotype (wet collodion process), one of the most demanding and most magical 19th-century photographic techniques.

“Kashubian Wedding according to I. Gulgowski” is not just a book – it is a journey through time, a reconstructed memory of a world that has long passed, yet still lives on in ethnographic records and Kashubian tradition. The album was created in cooperation with the Kashubian Ethnographic Park Museum of Teodora and Izydor Gulgowski in Wdzydze Kiszewskie, where the models and participants were museum staff and their families.

This is a photographic reconstruction of a historical reality, based on the writings of Izydor Gulgowski and ethnographic sources, brought back to life with extraordinary attention to detail – from traditional costumes, through rituals, to the rhythm of rural life.

Ambrotype as a time machine

All photographs were created using the ambrotype process on glass plates, giving them a unique, tangible and almost spiritual character. Each image was produced entirely by hand – without digital intervention, in accordance with the rhythm and discipline of 19th-century photography.

This makes the album a true visual time capsule, transporting the viewer into a world that could have existed 150 years ago – a world preserved in silver and glass.

Reconstruction of a Kashubian wedding

“Kashubian Wedding according to I. Gulgowski” is the result of months of preparation and extensive work:

• studying historical and ethnographic sources
• consultations with ethnographers
• sewing traditional costumes and preparing props
• crafting handmade decorations and scenography
• years of experience in wet collodion photography

The culmination was three intensive days of photographic work, during which an entire Kashubian wedding cycle was reconstructed – from courtship and engagement, through rural preparations (including traditional farm work), to the wedding ceremony and a vibrant rural celebration.

This is the story of a Young Couple and the community surrounding them – told as it might have looked in the mid-19th century.

Credits

• Photography and concept: Radosław Brzozowski
• Texts: Radosław Brzozowski (based on “On the Unknown People in Germany”)
• Introduction: Krzysztof Jurecki
• Museum collaboration: Kashubian Ethnographic Park Museum of Teodora and Izydor Gulgowski in Wdzydze Kiszewskie

Publication details

• Pages: 144
• Languages: Polish and English
• Photographic technique: ambrotype (wet collodion process)
• Photographer: Radosław Brzozowski

Why this album is unique

This is the first publication in Poland combining ambrotype photography, ethnography, and historical reconstruction in such a complete narrative form. Each photograph is a unique object – an unrepeatable record of a moment captured on glass.

“Kashubian Wedding according to I. Gulgowski” is a tribute to memory, tradition, and photographic craftsmanship – a return to the origins of the image, where light, chemistry, and time create a shared story.

📽️ Watch how the album was created: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c889h84JoSA