Wanda Rutkiewicz (1943-1992) : Polish Himalayan mountaineer. She was an electric engineer by education and trade. February 4th , 2023 marked the 80th anniversary of her birth. Her climbing achievements are well known. She was the first woman in the world to reach the summit of K2(1986) and earlier the highest peak in the world- Mount Everest in 1978- as the third woman in the world, the first European and the first person from Poland. This outstanding woman passed away in 1992 trying to reach another peak, the Kangchenjunga.

Wanda loved sports and challenges ever since she was a child. She was an excellent rally driver, author of books and part of many documentary film projects. As it turns out , she also had another passion- photograpby. Pictures selected for this exhibition were taken during the 70's, 80's and 90's using the classic method. The prints were made using the negatives and slides found in the author's archive s after her death. She captured the mountains in challenging conditions in terms of altitude, technical equipment, weather and climber fatigue. Today, we can look at the result of the recorded moments through the eyes of wanda .