Krakow Photomonth (May 17 to June 17) will bring gaggles of photographers from all over the world to the city’s photogenic streets.

The Krakow Post’s photographer, David McGirr, has some Do’s and Don’ts to help you get the most out of the experience:

Tripods

Tripods are prohibited in some locations. Rest your camera against something solid, and use the self-timer function, or invest in a small, flexible support that can wrap around any fixture.

Photo tickets

Some tourist sites, notably Mariacki Church and the Wieliczka salt mine, require photographers to buy an additional photo/video ticket (for 10zł). This is usually a sticker that should be worn in a conspicuous place to fend off over-zealous security staff.

No flash

Flash photography is often banned in museums or places of worship. Use a high iso and a slow shutter speed. Take more than one photo in succession – the second or third shot will often be steadier.

Safety

Krakow is a very safe city, but the usual common sense precautions should be taken. Never leave your kit unattended and always be aware of your surroundings if venturing out at night in less busy areas.

Photographing the locals

Be polite and respectful. Don’t be the pushy tourist with a camera. Some people, usually the older generation, are less keen on being photographed.

Explore

Krakow is a wonderful location to photograph, but a lot of it is not immediately visible. Stray off the beaten track. Wander down alleys into passageways and hidden courtyards – they are almost always public spaces despite appearances.

Get in close

Look up. Capture the detail in the architecture, the old glass street numbers, the ornate portals and the stonework.

Read more tips and ideas for off-the-beaten-track photo opportunities in Krakow

It’s okay, I’m not about to launch into the first chapter of my own version of a Russian novel. Instead, I’ve been considering one of the teacher’s less pleasant roles: how to respond to the unwilling learner. This came about because I did something last week I hadn’t done for a very long time – I gave one of my students lines. Apart from Bart in the opening credits of The Simpsons, I can’t think of anyone who has to write lines, or of many teachers who give them nowadays. Mine weren’t witty or long, just a message to reinforce a point… or not, as the case may be.

The received wisdom in teaching is that one should always be ‘firm but fair,’ though one teacher’s ‘firmness’ can be another’s ‘strict to the point of irrationality.’ Of course, praise is better than blame, and in an ideal world, the teacher-student relationship should be harmonious since we’re all working together for the same thing… aren’t we? Well, that depends. A teacher’s aim as written in their plan, to revise the past perfect for example, may not coincide with a student’s plan, which could be to get through the lesson without admitting he didn’t do last week’s homework.

In reality, a teacher’s armoury of enforcement is limited. The obvious weapon of giving an after-lesson detention is often a self-punishment since it takes up the teacher’s time as effectively as the miscreant’s. It can be effective on a practical level, if it can be used to catch up on that homework that hasn’t been handed in, but as a way of changing attitudes, it’s a dead loss – and it’s attitudes that make the difference.

Personally, I dislike having to enforce discipline and hope that order will arise from good will and good humour. Fortunately, this is true for everyone in my current school – hence the rarity of handing out punishments.

One colleague from many years ago had a novel way of getting students to remember not to make particular mistakes. His bugbear was the conjoining of the words ‘a lot’ to make the nonsense word ‘alot.’ Having pointed out the error once, if it occurred again, as it often did, he would take the paper, or worse still, the exercise book, and publicly cut each offending ‘alot’ into two separate words with a pair of scissors, thereby destroying much hard labour in the process. This public execution of essays caused cries of woe from the offenders, but nobody who saw it ever did it again. This teacher was a young, energetic Irishman, loved for his daft jokes and enthusiasm. He could do outrageous things and get away with them. I’m not an advocate of cutting up student’s work, nor do I advocate capital punishment… I mean ‘corporal’ punishment – that was just an innocent slip.

The investigation into Poland’s involvement in extraordinary rendition and ‘enhanced’ interrogation is being played out in Krakow courtrooms.

Set in a green corner of Poland scattered with bubbling springs and placid lakes, the manor house that is home to the 2nd Unit Training Centre of the Agencja Wywiadu (Poland’s intelligence agency) is located in the village of Stare Kiejkuty in the Masurian Lakeland.

The 2nd Unit’s headquarters, known as ‘the wood’ among Polish security operatives, is tucked away out of sight, separated from the 1st Unit by a small grove of trees impenetrable to journalists and human rights activists.

It was here, critics claim, that the Polish state allowed terror suspects snatched by the CIA to be imprisoned and tortured in flagrant disregard for Polish and international law.

In distant Krakow, the convoluted legal investigation into these allegations is drawing to a close. The case was transferred from Warsaw to the Prosecutor’s Office in Krakow in January of this year, and its conclusion is scheduled for August 12, 2012.

One of the two principal prosecutors, Jerzy Mierzewski, was removed from the case before its transfer to Krakow. Gazeta Wyborcza later obtained access to his files and claimed that the prosecutor was preparing to file charges stating that acts in breach of the Polish constitution and international law had occurred in Stare Kiejkuty.

“Mierzewski was removed from the investigation into secret CIA activities due to the need to assign him to another case,” said a spokesperson for the Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw in May 2011.

“To ensure credibility, the chief prosecutor must stop hiding behind the veil of state secrecy and explain why the latest prosecutor was replaced,” said Julia Hall, Amnesty International’s expert on counter-terrorism and human rights.

Several men now held at Guantanamo Bay ‘passed through the wood,’ including Adb al-Rahim al-Nashiri and Abu Zubaydah.

The International Committee of the Red Cross completed a report into the treatment of 14 CIA detainees, including Abu Zubaydah, in 2007. It concluded that the men had been subject to numerous enhanced interrogation techniques, including waterboarding, beatings, sleep deprivation and forced nudity. Some or all of these may have occurred at Stare Kiejkuty.

The men have been offered pro bono legal support from a group of lawyers assisting them both in the United States and in Europe.

Following Mierzewski’s removal from the case, al-Nashiri’s legal representatives filed a case against Poland at the European Court of Human Rights, which was eventually registered on May 9, 2011.

“The case is still pending the court’s decision as to further procedure. Given that the application was granted priority, we would expect that a procedural step will be taken within the next few months,” said the ECHR’s press office.

“Al-Nashiri was abducted from Poland without issuing any extradition warrant, thus violating Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights with regard to the right to life,” said Mikołaj Pietrzak, al-Nashiri’s defence attorney in Poland.

“Despite Mierzewski’s efforts, the investigation has so far been ineffective because Poland didn’t make any attempt to obtain legal support from the United States,” added Pietrzak, who also confirmed that he has maintained contact with al-Nashiri’s lawyers across the Atlantic.

“These developments further confirm that the Polish investigation is incapable of vindicating Mr al-Nashiri’s rights. We hope that the ECHR will act swiftly to render justice in this case,” Amrit Singh of the Open Society Justice Initiative told the Krakow Post.

At the end of March this year, further details of the case were leaked to Gazeta Wyborcza and television news program Panorama, revealing that former AW chief Zbigniew Siemiątkowski has been under investigation for his role in the rendition and torture programme.

Siemiątkowski, who headed the AW between 2002 and 2004, was recently sentenced to one year in prison for endorsing the illegitimate arrest of the former CEO of Polish oil giant PKN Orlen, Andrzej Modrzejewski during the so-called Orlengate affair.

In a letter published in April 2012, the Krakow Appellate Court confirmed that 62 people have been questioned in connection with the Stare Kiejkuty case to date. It also confirmed that Poland has requested legal assistance from both the US government and human rights experts abroad.

The situation is complicated by the fact that both al-Nashiri and Zubaydah are now subject to US military tribunals at Guantanamo Bay, but it is the US Department of Justice that is responsible for international co-operation in criminal investigation.

“If the AW provides the prosecutor with all the documentation related to the detention program and their co-operation with the CIA, US support might not be essential in order to make solid charges,” Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights spokesperson Małgorzata Szuleka told the Krakow Post.

Photo: Security fences around the military base at Stare Kiejkuty

Fears that the Hutnik stadium might be below par have proved unfounded as a major refurbishment of the pitch and buildings nears conclusion.

In December last year, British tabloid The Sun published a scathing report on the Nowa Huta ground, branding it “a shambolic dump… barely fit for a pub team.”

Today, the newly-laid pitch is looking lush and the ground’s buildings have been fixed up and repainted.

Before…

…After

Building debris remains to be cleared away and resurfacing of the car park and access road was still ongoing when the Krakow Post visited the ground on the weekend, but the bulk of the work is done.

Muddy…

…Magnificent

Urban…

…Urbane

The Suche Stawy (Dry Ponds) Stadium, as the ground is officially known, is home to Hutnik Nowa Huta football club. The renovation work has been funded  by the English Football Association and the City of Krakow.

New turnstile and entrance for visitors (away fans)

Ground clearance

Finishing touches – Mrs Mop goes to work

This month sees the start of a programme of lectures, workshops and more, aimed at revealing the secrets of the Medieval master craftsmen who worked in Krakow.

The project will be held on Tuesdays and Fridays, and will be a chance for participants to learn some of the skills and techniques, and produce their own works of art.

Grind your own dyes to create authentic traditional colours, learn how to decorate furniture panels, practise the art of decorating books and manuscripts by hand, or learn the techniques used for making tapestry and jewellery. There will also be opportunities to learn woodcut techniques, and methods of working ceramics, metal and glass.

Organised by the National Museum in Krakow at the Bishop Erasmus Palace, classes continue until June 22.

For more information, email project administrator Monika Wlezień at mwlezien@muzeum.krakow.pl.

The workshops cost 250zł, including materials and admission to the museum.

The Krakow Post’s resident photographer David McGirr shares some insights gained from 12 years of looking at the city through a lens.

I long ago stopped considering myself a tourist, but I still photograph the obvious, A-list locations almost weekly. It’s a compulsion – an addiction. The city always looks beautiful through the lens. It’s like living with a supermodel – you might get used to her, sometimes irritated by her, but it is so tempting to whip out the camera for just one more shot.

As someone who is equally passionate about Krakow and photography, I can assure you that there is no better time to enjoy the delights of photographing Krakow surrounded by the inspiration of so many wonderful exhibitions.

You can, of course, go for the ‘postcard’ shots – Mariacki, the Sukiennice, Wawel, the horse-drawn carriages in the square – but the exhibitors at Photomonth didn’t get there by taking the same shots as everyone else. Below is a list of novel locations to help you squeeze the most out of your time here.

Don’t forget to submit your favourites to the Krakow Post, we would love to see your best pictures and present them to our readers on our website or in our pages

Shamelessly candid Mike, a 42-year- old plumber from Liverpool, is a self- proclaimed sex tourist. His eyes light up with expert acumen as he describes his favourite brothel on ul. Długa.

“It’s not exactly high end, but I don’t like that kind of thing anyway, I pay 200 złoty for an hour and have a little fun. Okay, the girls aren’t stunners, but they mind themselves more than the girls at home, and age better. It gets a lot of foot traffic – being on a main street – and there’s a big sign over the door. Any idiot can find a brothel in Krakow, they’re everywhere.”

He’s right, they are everywhere. Flashing neon come-ons are a common feature on streets just minutes from the Market Square. Signs spell out lewd services for passers by, some I have seen pause momentarily before deciding on a whimsical indulgence.

And there is a wide selection. Just around the corner from Mike’s favourite on ul. Długa, another venue advertises a sauna, a solarium and a glory hole among its attractions.

You might be forgiven for mistaking this openness as a sign of legality. It is not. Polish law allows streetwalkers and escorts to trade independently, but prohibits the establishment of brothels and the practice of pimping.

Head out from the Old Town on any major route and you will quickly find a ‘massage’ joint that hints heavily at other services, or openly advertises them.

Krakow is full of brothels that barely bother to put up the window dressing to make their premises appear legal. Escort agencies are allowed to put clients in touch with prostitutes, and charge a fee for this service, on the condition that the escorts are not working together on the premises.

But many of Krakow’s brothels, which usually have girls working in the building, prefer the guise of sauna, solarium or massage parlour. Presumably the word ‘agency’ just isn’t sexy enough.

The city’s law enforcement agencies seem to be turning a blind eye. This provides plenty of entertainment for sex tourists, but also brings darker problems ranging from protection rackets to human trafficking. According to a recent report on prostitution in Poland, local and foreign sex workers claim they have to pay protection money to organised criminals and corrupt police officers.

La Strada, an international anti- trafficking organisation, says that it is much harder to reach sex workers operating in brothels than those on the street. These may be women who have been trafficked into Poland against their will, or underage girls. Kept in flats, they become invisible to everyone but their clients and their pimps.

A Google search will quickly turn up ‘legal’ online escort agencies listing girls in every Polish city, along with prices and comments from satisfied customers. These women operate out of private apartments and their prices are generally the same as those in brothels.

But if brothels are being allowed to operate almost openly in Krakow, how likely is it that the authorities are rigorously checking up on the legitimacy of online escort agencies? How many of these women, some offering services for as little as 12 euro, are actually operating under pimps or madams?

While the authorities would like you to believe that all is well in Poland’s semi- legal sex industry, statistics paint another picture. Poland has a high number of migrant sex workers – the average estimate is 33 per cent – many of whom are from Ukraine, which has the highest HIV infection rate in Europe. And these numbers are not made up of heroin addicts or gay men, the hardest hit are young female sex workers.

Despite the threat of infection and subsequent trips to the clinic, or worse, Mike the sex tourist protests he is always careful and is defiant in the face of criticism. Defiant that is, until I mention the fact that brothels are illegal in Poland.

“Illegal? You’re joking! Seriously? Get into any taxi and they’ll take you to a brothel, walk down the street and you’ll find one… You’re having me on.”

It does seem like a joke – the whole messy charade of payoffs and neon lights. Neon lights that seem to shine with the presupposition of legality. But then, presuppositions are dangerous things.

The Facts

• Prostitution is legal in Po- land, but operating brothels, pimping, coercive prostitution, the prostitution of minors and living off someone else’s prostitution are all prohibited.
• Prostitutes operating in illegal ‘escort agencies’ or ‘massage parlours’ are breaking the law, those operating independently are not.
• Prostitutes in Poland do not have to pay tax.
• NGOs estimate there are over 18,000 prostitutes in Poland and 15 per cent of these are male.
• A 2009 US Human Rights Report says the police estimate there are 3,300 sex workers in the country.

246 students from Norwid High school in Kielce crammed onto a city bus on Monday, smashing the record of 229 set by the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of the Krakow University of Technology.

The, presumably very thin, Kielce students have previously set a record for the most people dancing a Polonaise in one place.

The Krakow Post invites Guinness World Record adjudicators to try the 130 to Dworzec Główny any weekday rush hour if they really want to see an unbelievable number of human beings in one vehicle.

Photo: Piotr Polak/PAP

The trials and tribulations of any England football team ahead of any international tournament are no less intense than for Poland-Ukraine 2012. Their choice of a base in Krakow continues to arouse curiosity and criticism in equal measure, as does their decision to train at a third-rate club ground in Nowa Huta, which is rapidly being renovated with EUFA money. The Daily Mirror investigated, and spoke to “a man in charge of building” works there who allegedly declared: “It is a work in progress. You might think things look bad, but this is the way of building, here”. Encouraging, then. Perhaps that’s why, as the Mirror also reports, England has not sold its quota of Euro tickets, and England’s opener against France is one of only a handful of games not to have sold out. That and maybe the fact England has only just appointed a coach, six weeks before the championships commence.

At least England rules the roost off the pitch; I’m talking WAGs (the Wives And GirlfriendS). The Daily Star’s headline is: “Cracking Krakow all set to welcome Coleen Rooney and Co for Euro 2012.” “England’s WAGs will be the real stars of Euro 2012,” it begins confidently, before going on to describe Krakow as a “notorious party town, popular for Brit stag dos,” where alcohol is cheap and strip joints abound. In other titillating developments, Poland’s football anthem for Euro 2012, a catchy tune sung by stolid Polish countrywomen entitled ‘Koko Euro Spoko‘ – something like ‘Clucking Cool Euro” – has received press reviews of the ‘so bad it’s good‘ variety, while more seriously – I think – The Sun reports that Pamela Anderson wants Ukrainian authorities to stop killing stray dogs in an effort to smarten up the country’s streets.

Another theme is the long shadow still cast by World War II. A debate rages in the media as to whether or not the German team should visit Auschwitz. The Independent reports the Ukrainian authorities have blocked the release of a film about a Kiev football side that took on and beat a Nazi side during the War. The ‘Death Match’ in Kiev allegedly lead to the murder of the Ukrainian players. That aspect of the story is thought to be apocryphal, but it was feared releasing the movie now could offend Kiev residents (portrayed as collaborators) as well as encourage anti-German sentiment.

And finally, a big developing story is the possible boycotting of the Ukraine half of the tournament. As the Chicago Tribune puts it: “Europe’s presidents shun Ukraine over Tymoshenko.” This has also put Poland in a tricky spot. Radio Free Europe reports pressure building on Poland, as an EU member, to condemn Ukraine, but so far Poland has condemned rather the politicisation of the Euros – echoing comments by Vladimir Putin, according to CNN. Le Monde reports that Amnesty is against a boycott, on the basis that the more people who visit Ukraine to observe things at close hand, the more public pressure there will be to improve human rights there. It’s further bad PR for Ukraine following widespread coverage in the Western press about the extortionate cost of accommodation, the explosion of bombs in Dnipropetrovsk, and even a possible measles outbreak. The head of Germany’s football federation told Bild there was no plan to move the Ukraine-based matches to Germany. Of course not…

Jonathan Lipman is the author of Polska Dotty, available on amazon.

Read a review of Polska Dotty

Krakow is an impressively photogenic city that also happens to host one of the major photography events in Europe – Krakow Photomonth (Miesiąc Fotografii w Krakowie).