Dorothea Lange said that ‘the camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera.’ I believe that sight is not merely a physical ability that you are born with but an unique means of comprehending the world. Your sight broadens as you gather experiences, work on weaknesses, dodge clichés and form opinions. This development in turn fires your creativity, which is not a characteristic that you are born with, but something that must be fed and nurtured.
My endeavour is to create works that are meaningful. Art appeared in my life when I found myself struggling with a personal loss. This was a turning point for me. The death of my mother showed me the fleeting nature of life; I now understood that the human body was mortal. This led me to pursue immaterial goals such as realizing my artistic talents, acquiring knowledge and expressing my creativity.
How did I go about this? Taking photographs is the way that I communicate with others. Photography allows me to share my ideas when there are no suitable words to describe them. I have been taking pictures for almost nine years. However, painting was my first creative outlet and still influences my photography - in my use of colour, choice of elements, and simplicity of composition.
I studied painting for five years at the Academy of Fine Art in Warsaw. At the same time, I attended a photography course where I improved my technical skills, deepened my knowledge, and consolidated my ideas. I have learnt much through photography, especially precision, concentration, and humility.
I have always created in order to battle my feelings of emptiness and isolation from the world. In photography, I am interested in everyday situations and ordinary people. In my portfolio, I present a cycle of photos which depict empty spaces. Although they were taken in major European cities, I deliberately chose uncelebrated locations and employed an atypical technique. One could describe this as a reaction to a traumatic past - in my life I have had to face one very important death whereas in my work it is the world that has to face death. Serene photographs, composed with great precision, evoke a silent menace and a brooding fear of apocalypse. How would a world without people look like? At first sight, seemingly empty, but later we might detect faint traces of past human presence.
