Street Photography in Warsaw

Street Photography in Warsaw, Poland

In November 2024 I managed to devote a full week to street photography in Warsaw. The Polish capital is large, home to just under 2 million people residing across numerous districts, separated by the wide Vistula river coursing through the middle. The city is therefore divided into left and right banks and linked by an excellent transport system, including picturesque yellow trams, that connects all areas. 

The left bank, from a business and travel perspective, is far busier as it hosts the city centre, including the UNESCO-listed Old Town (which is actually a new town) and the eye-catchingly modern financial zone, which is studded with skyscrapers that wouldn’t look out of place in New York or London.  

In addition, Warsaw has a compelling history and a surprisingly vibrant culinary scene. I didn’t know much about it prior to visiting, but learnt an enormous amount by simply being there and wandering about, as well as by voraciously reading online articles; plus I had brought a copy of Adam Zamoyski’s Poland: A History, and I visited some of the city’s magnificent museums, particularly of a historical nature.

Historical Overview

Judging by Zamoyski’s book, Poland has an incredibly eventful and often tragic history. Formerly a massive power covering much of Eastern Europe under the combined Poland-Lithuanian Commonwealth, a loosely bound union existing between 1569 and 1795 and inhabited by a mishmash of different peoples (chiefly Germans, Lithuanians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Jews and Ruthenians, besides Poles), Poland then weakened and was partitioned three times (in 1772, 1792 and 1795) by the greater neighbouring empires of Prussia, Russia and Austria, which gobbled up huge swathes of its territory, rendering Poland practically non-existent until 1918. 

Then, following World War I and with the Germans and Austrians defeated and the Russians busy with their Bolshevik revolution, Poland enjoyed a few decades of independence, shifting from a democratic to a more authoritarian form of government, until tragedy struck again during World War II. Famously, in 1939 Hitler and Stalin agreed to once again partition Poland between themselves and the country was subsequently invaded by their massive armies from either side. 

While the Soviets were accused of committing atrocities such as the Katyn Massacre of about 22,000 Polish military officers, the Nazis set up a brutal occupation regime with concentration camps constructed around the country, where 3 million of Poland’s 3.3 million Jews were murdered. Poland had hitherto been home to by far the largest population of Jews in Europe, and their heritage in the country is brilliantly unravelled at the superb POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews.

But Poland nevertheless continued to put up a stiff resistance during World War II, as epitomised by the Warsaw Rising, which saw ordinary Poles conduct a valiant attempt to beat off their Nazi occupiers in August-October 1944, while the Nazis were being pummeled on all fronts by the allied powers and on the retreat in Europe. Although the Nazis managed to brutally suppress it after 63 days of close-quarter fighting, the Warsaw Rising became a defining episode in the city’s history which is kept alive at the equally excellent Warsaw Rising Museum. 

Another insightful historical museum I perused was the Museum of Life in the Polish People’s Republic (PPR). Much smaller than the Jewish and Warsaw Rising museums, it nevertheless offered an enlightening glimpse of life in the initially Stalin-styled state established in Poland following its liberation by the Soviet Red Army in 1945. In short, the PPR was a typical authoritarian communist polity with a planned economy, repressive security services and immense shortages of basic everyday goods.

Tips for Street Photographers

From a street photography perspective, the main thing to note from all Poland’s World War II travails is that following the Warsaw Rising the city was almost totally levelled by the Nazis, with 85% of buildings on the left bank being destroyed. This means that most of the architecture is of the large and imposing socialist sort, which in places is grim and characterless, however in others it is monumental and impressive. Meanwhile, the modern financial area provides a remarkable contrast, and in between are a host of lovely parks, such as the Royal Łazienki Park.

Based on my wanderings, I predictably found the most fruitful area for street photography to be the city centre, by which I mean the large area on the left bank between the architectural behemoth of the Palace of Science and Culture and Nowy Świat (New World) Street leading north to the Old Town, which is in fact a reconstruction of the original Old Town blitzed by the Nazis but is nevertheless the centre of tourism in Warsaw.

West of the Old Town, the Palace of Science and Culture is an iconic, almost omnipresent, structure in central Warsaw. Reportedly gifted by Stalin to the city, nowadays it arouses very contradictory impressions, as both a monumental piece of architecture worthy of preserving for its historical value, but also a reminder of a painful period in Poland’s history under the PPR. Apparently it is locally known as “Stalin’s syringe”, due to its shape and negative connotations, and there has been much debate as to whether it should be toppled.

The other area I particularly enjoyed wandering around, especially with lights on in the evening, was the financial district beginning just west of the Palace of Culture and Science. I had just one sunny evening in Warsaw and loved how the light bounced off the glassy buildings.

Elsewhere I walked at length through laid-back but lethargic residential districts such as Mokotow, Moranow, and even Praga over on the right bank - said to be an up-and-coming area, though in grim weather I didn’t find much of interest, beyond one building that seemed to be peppered with bullet holes, perhaps remnants of the Warsaw Rising.

 I regretted not having come in late spring, summer or early autumn, when I imagined that other areas of Warsaw would come to life, above all along the Vistula river, the banks of which were understandably lifeless in late November.

Overall Impressions

But, despite the poor weather and lack of light, I enjoyed Warsaw and its agreeably laidback atmosphere for a major European city. I saw many nice cafes and restaurants and was impressed by the number of book shops, signalling a cultured population; the locals did seem like nice people. 

Another thing to look out for is the phenomenon of the milk bar. So named because they typically served dairy-based dishes, these canteen-type eateries were a staple in the PPR, offering workers low-cost, state-subsided but delicious and healthy meals. And the concept was so great that the tradition continues today, long after the fall of the communist regime in 1989, with even tourists such as myself ending up in one after a few hours of Warsaw street photography.