Amid a sea of street-style photos, those by Kuba Dąbrowski stand out because he always sees the bigger picture, yielding more depth, empathy, erudite references — and dollops of humor.
So says his photographer buddy Piotr Niepsuj, curator of “Life on Assignment,” an exhibition dedicated to Dąbrowski that opened Wednesday at the Fort Institute of Photography, or IFF, in Warsaw, Poland.
“He really knows what he’s photographing,” Niepsuj said. “He’s always documenting.”
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Niepsuj sifted through thousands of images for the show, settling on the crème de la crème of his They Are Wearing photos for WWD, for which he’s worked for 15 years; portraits of such famous fashion folk as Paul Smith and Anna Wintour, and also unglamorous images of his time away from catwalks, in sock-strewn Airbnbs, average cafés and public transport.
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In addition to about 80 framed images, including one of the late, great Bill Cunningham, a pioneer of street-style photography who started his career at WWD, Niepsuj also assembled three expansive mood boards — leaned against the wall as they are backstage at fashion shows — to sneak in more of Dąbrowski’s visual magic.
“Sincere,” “humane” and “democratic” were terms Niepsuj lobbed frequently to describe the Polish photographer’s work, informed by his education in sociology, his fashion culture, his love of sport and music, and his curiosity about everything.
“He does proper reportage,” Niepsuj said. “What I like about Kuba’s pictures is that they are honest. They are not for fireworks.”
Indeed, Dąbrowski prefers to work with a wide-angle lens, taking in the environment around his subjects, whether it’s sublime or messy, and training it on models, celebrities, editors and influencers — along with the service workers, civilians and tourists who also get caught up the melee around fashion weeks in Milan and Paris.
“He gives dignity to everyone,” Niepsuj said. “He’s also interested in everyday life.”
That includes his own, which is why he includes pictures of a stolen FaceTime call with his son, his friends scarfing pizza, and a few unconventional selfies, mostly his shadow thrown on the ground, his slender frame, bucket hat and dangling cameras enough signifiers to know it’s Kuba.
Niepsuj said Dąbrowski’s knowledge of photo history is vast enough that he notices when what he’s captured resembles the work of Saul Leiter, William Eggleston or Wolfgang Tillmans.
In the exhibition, there’s a wink to acclaimed Czech photographer Josef Koudelka, once caught sleeping on the floor of Magnum’s offices. Dąbrowski is pictured taking a catnap in a sleeping bag in some characterless photo studio.
“It’s about portraying the world that fashion-week photographers live,” Dąbrowski said in an interview, summing it up as “the backstage of the backstage.”
He was new to fashion when WWD market editor Laurent Folcher gave him a trenchant brief for its century-old They Are Wearing franchise: halfway between The Sartorialist and Martin Parr.
“When he said that, I thought, ‘OK, I’m the right person, and I’m providing my images to the right publication if they’re using those references,” he related.
And then he raised the bar: Dąbrowski said he always takes photos with an eventual online gallery in his mind — and what people living 30 to 40 years from now might decrypt about the times he’s documenting.
The Berlin-based photographer said he relishes the Zen state he reaches during fashion week, able to dedicate his whole attention to creating and editing images.
Favorite assignments for WWD have included shooting Louis Vuitton fashions at the Louvre, wandering through the shuttered museum alone as if in a dream; documenting Daniel Roseberry as he creates haute couture for Schiaparelli, a key client of his, and shooting portraits of Rick Owens, Dries Van Noten and Yohji Yamamoto for WWD.
“It’s amazing to be in the presence of greatness,” he said. “I think my job is to photograph the whole scene.”
Niepsuj said Dąbrowski exemplifies the pleasure of taking pictures for oneself — not to look hot on Instagram or impress followers.
“Imagine walking 20 kilometers a day [during Paris Fashion Week] and then going back to your Airbnb, or meeting a friend and still taking pictures,” he marveled. “It means you love it.”
“Life on Assignment” runs until June 14 at IFF, in tandem with “Family Trilogy” by Christopher Anderson and Marion Durand.