Chris Niedenthal is a world renowned Polish-British photographer born in 1950 who’s best known for a series of photographs documenting the life behind the Iron Curtain. Some of his photographs were on display in Wrocław’s center square a couple of weeks ago, all of them taken in 1982 which coincidentally is the year I was born.

Looking over these photos pretty much everyone had a smile on their face reminiscing of the years that has passed. But the cruel truth is that these were harsh times to live in, albeit a much simpler time, too. Today we get caught up in our iPad lives forgetting that just 30 years ago my mom couldn’t get dipers, milk, or a few slices of ham because store shelves were simply empty. The gallery was a good reminder to perhaps enjoy what we’ve got, and what Poland as a country has achieved since then.