An exhibition of photographs by the late journalist and writer Ryszard Kapuścinski has opened at the Zachęta Gallery in Warsaw.

On display are fifty photos taken during the writer’s extensive journeys across the Soviet Union and the countries of the former Soviet Union in 1989-1991.

The material gathered by Kapuściński informed the writing of the best seller Imperium, which described the collapse of the Soviet Union. It was published in 1993 and was subsequently translated into many languages, including English.

Alicja Kapuścińska, the writer’s widow, said at the opening of the exhibition that her husband always carried a camera with him and attached great importance to his photographs.

“He stressed time and again, however, that they were not just an illustrative material to his writings but an altogether different field of artistic activity and a distinct form of expression,” she said.

The exhibition is open till 20 February 2011. (mk)