For two decades now, a certain important pretext has drawn photojournalist Wojciech Grzędziński away from the front line and traditionally leads him to Warsaw - the Chopin International Piano Competition.

Warsaw

Wojciech Grzędziński is a Polish photojournalist recognized for his extensive work covering conflicts in regions such as Lebanon, Georgia, South Sudan, Afghanistan, and Ukraine. Despite his focus on war, Grzędziński is also drawn to the International Frederic Chopin Piano Competition, where he explores the emotional extremes experienced by participants.

Grzędziński describes a powerful moment when his two photographic worlds converged: documenting a woman playing Chopin on a damaged piano in a bombed house in Ukraine. This image, which won Photo of the Year at the Grand Press Photo 2022, highlights the intersection of war and music, and the resilience of the human spirit. The Chopin Competition, established in 1927, remains one of the most prestigious musical events globally.

War and Chopin: Inside the photographic worlds of Wojciech Grzędziński

Here is Wojciech Grzęciński, a Polish photojournalist and laureate of the World Press Photo and numerous other awards. He has covered wars in Lebanon, Georgia, South Sudan, Afghanistan and since the start of Russia's full-scale war, he spends many months each year in Ukraine. For years there has been one event, however, that's called him away from the front lines – the International Frederic Chopin Piano Competition. But what does Chopin have to do with war? For me, the key to photographing is a person in a rather extreme moment of life. There is a scene ahead of us, in which, in a truly extreme situation, all the pianists who come to try their luck at the competition, but also to face themselves, other pianists, to be judged by the jury, by the audience. I have the same impression of extremes. There are moments when these two words, war and Chopin, unexpectedly converge, sometimes quite literally. That's how this photograph, named Photo of the Year at the Grand Press Photo 2022, came to be. A bomb fell on the White Church. One of the houses that suffered the most was the house of Irina Maniukina, who let me in. We were walking around the house, there was a fallen furniture, and at some point she approached the piano. She took off the protective cover of the piano and began to play, on a completely scattered instrument. In a room with broken windows, she begins to play Chopin. I had goosebumps then, because these are my two photographic worlds, and also, in a way, a little bit of life. Suddenly they intersected in one place and at one moment. Launched in 1927, the International Frederic Chopin Piano Competition is one of the oldest and most prestigious musical events of its kind in the world. The International Frederic Chopin Piano Competition is one of the oldest and most prestigious musical events of its kind in the world.

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