Rafal Milach was born in 1978 in Gliwice Poland, and is known as a Polish visual artist/ photographer. He undertakes large-term projects and is known as a nominee member of Magnum Photos. He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice and studied at the Institute of Creative Photography.

He was invited to take part in the Kolekcja Wrzesnia artist residency program and there was when he became part of the children’s protest which had occurred while the Germans occupied Poland. The town became known for this protest as they attempted to change things such as getting rid of Polish from the school curriculum, which led to over 100 children from Catholic People’s school going on strike as protest of their education and schools.

During this time, there were mass rallies do to the government trying to gain more power, which inspired children to march along with the rallies which was an inspiration for Milach’s most well known book, “The First March of Gentlemen”. This book includes photo montages which show the 1902’s children strike, with characters who lived in the communist era. This book allowed him to create archive images.

The Book “The First March of Gentlemen”

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The book was brightly coloured and included a long piece of blue string which shut the book together. Inside, lots of shapes and colours which along with the string make it look like a children’s book which was the overall inspiration for the project.

Mood Board of Inside the Book

Photo Analysis

Technical Analysis- After researching about the work, we known that this book was created using archival images with brightly coloured backgrounds. However, we do not know if this has been done digitally or done by hand.

Visual Analysis- Visually, we can see that the man in the image is dressed in black and white which are typically vintage colours which helps to portray the image of an adult. However, the rest of the image is very colourful and the background is half red and half blue. The colouring helps to draw the audiences attention as it is very overpowering. Their has been a geometrical shape used on the outside of the positioning of the man which could be seen as a symbolism of being trapped. The expression on the man’s face is very calm.

Contextual Analysis- This is an image from Rafal’s book which shows political activism.

Conceptual Analysis- Conceptually, a metaphor is being created by the bright colours and shapes in the image which can be seen as quite childish and this is helping to contrast the old, calm man in the centre of the image.