dr hab. Janusz Połom, prof. UWM
Born in 1950 in Toruń. Miller, cinematographer, photographer, film director. A graduate of the Department of Cinematography and Television Production as well as the Directing Department in the Film School in Łódź. He is a lecturer and in the years 1981-1985 he was the Dean of Cinematography and Television Production Department at the Film School in Łódź. In the years 1971-1976 he was a member (together with J. Robakowski, W. Bruszewski, R. Waśko, P. Kwiek, K. Bendkowski, L. Czołnowski and others) of the Film Form Workshop at the Film School in Łódź, in which he filmed "Alphabet" and participated in many exhibitions as well as artistic projects, including the largest project ("Workshop Action") in 1975 in the Museum of Arts in Łódź. In the 1970s he cooperated as an operator, among others with A. Papuziński, T. Sołoniewicz, K. Konrad, J. Robakowski and the directors at SMFF SE-MA-FOR. In this movie company, he made his debut as a film director and directed on his own four short feature films in special techniques. In 1982, he presented photographs at the Biennale de Paris and in 1983 he participated as one of the 75 artists of the 20th century in the largest post-war exhibition of Polish contemporary arts ("Presences Polonaises - l' art vivant autour du Musée de Lodz") at the Georges Pompidou Centre in Paris. In 1986 he emigrated to Canada and taught film technology at the Université du Québéc in Montréal and photographed independent movies and television novels. In 1987, he started to work with the Centro de Capacitación Cinematografica (CCC) - the national film school in Mexico City, in which he gave lectures as a guest lecturer. In 1989 he moved to Mexico. He was a lecturer at the Universidad Latina de Las Americas in Morelia and in CCC. In 1990, he became the coordinator for establishing the "film photography" specialization in Centro. In the 1990s he was the author of photos for several full-length films which won prestigious, international awards: the documentary film "Silent Witness" directed by Harriet Wichin, which won a Golden Plate during the International Documentary Film Festival in Chicago and was nominated for a "Genie" (the Canadian "Oscar"), the documentary film "Mon Coeur est Temoin" which was awarded the best Canadian film about Africa at the festival "Vues d' Afrique" in Montréal. The Mexican feature film, "Por si no te vuelvo a ver" directed by Juana Pablo Villaseñor, won 9 Ariels (the Mexican "Oscar"), the People's Choice Award in Valladolid in Spain and "Golden Sun" for the best film in Biarritz, the "Visionary" award at the International Film Festival in Chicago, the People's Choice Award in Triesta, the Le Regard d' Or Award in Freiburg, Switzerland and others.
During his work in CCC and film-making, he also was engaged in photography. In 1995, he was a resident artist at the Canada Council at the Banff Art Center. He presented his works during individual exhibitions in galleries in Mexico City, including: El Atrio - the gallery of the Canadian Embassy, Virtual CCC Gallery, Centro Nacional de las Artes, Casa Cultural Coyacan, Casa Cultural San Angel and in Aguascalientes. He also had an individual exhibition during one of the biggest phonographic festivals - Fotoseptiembre. Apart from Mexico, he presented his works in Poland (in the Museum of Cinematography, BWA Olsztyn, BWA Bełchatów, BWA Toruń, City of Lodz Museum) and Canada. In 2001, he returned to Poland and started work in the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Warmia and Mazury. He presented his doctoral thesis in the field of film arts at the Cinematography Department at the Film School in Łódź in 2002. In 2003, he published a poetry book, "Time in Tepoztlan". In 2002-2009 he presented his works during several individual exhibitions, among others, at the Polesie Art Centre in Łódź, twice in the Museum of Cinematography in Łódź, the Virtual CCC Gallery - Centro Nacional de las Artes in Mexico City and during collective exhibitions. At the same time, he was completing a Polish and Mexican feature film "Mala Yerba - Bad Herb" which was also his habilitation work. The film's premiere took place in the "Awangarda" cinema in Olsztyn in 2009. In Warsaw, it was presented in the "Iluzjon" cinema of the National Film Archive in 2011. In 2010, he completed his post-doctoral studies in the field of film art at the Department of Cinematography and Television Production at the Film School in Łódź. He became a professor of the University of Warmia and Mazury in the Institute of Arts at the Faculty of Fine Arts.
In the years 2006-2001 he gave lectures four times as a guest lecturer at CCC in Mexico. He presented his photographic works, "Snowy landscape" and "Landscape with a wanderer" in the Virtual Centro Nacional de las Artes Gallery and the Casa Africa Gallery in Mexico City, Gallery 2b in Warsaw and Cinematography Museum in Łódź. In recent years he has been mainly engaged in photography. In 2013, he published the "Landscape with Wanderer" album and completed two animated films. At present, he manages a photography studio and gives lectures on photography in the Institute of Arts at the Faculty of Fine Arts of University of Warmia and Mazury. Since January, he has been running a photography gallery in the Awangarda Bis film café. Since 1975, he has been a member of the Polish Filmmakers' Association.