Highlights and shadows: emotions captured in photographs held by the State Archives in Opole

This study presents two perspectives on photography through the prism of emotions, as it is these that link the art of capturing human feelings with the technique of photography. A photograph that evokes emotions can be powerful and evocative, affecting the viewer on many levels. There are several key elements that help to capture emotion in photographs: portraiture, composition, light, colour, movement and context. These are ways of capturing the moment and expressing feelings without words. Photography can also connect the past with the present, and what we see with what we know. This is why it constitutes such valuable documentary and research material, especially today. It also justifies the acquisition of this type of archival material by state archives.