Kuba Kaminski November 25, 2012

From the project ‘The Whisperers’. Podlasie Region, Poland 2011

Kuba Kaminski (b. 1985, Poland) holds a degree in photography from the Lodz Film School. In 2004, he started work as a professional photographer for the “Zycie” daily and since 2005 has been a staff photographer for “Rzeczpospolita” daily newspaper till 2012. Kuba has been working on assignments in Europe, Asia, US and South America. He is also involved in his own documentary projects, such as “The Sobering Chamber”: about post-communist facilities for alcoholics and “Salaryman”: concerning overworked Japanese corporate workers. Kuba participated in the World Press Photo Joop Swart Masterclass in 2011 and won 3rd prize Best Of Photojournalism, Best Published Picture Story (smaller markets), USA. He is part of Emerging Talent with Reportage by Getty.

About the Photograph:

“The picture is part of my Whisperers story. Whisperers are people who believe they possess a gift from God giving them the power to heal all kinds of diseases and physical pain. They claim that they are also able to throw spells and charms and free people from evil possession. The name probably came from the way they treat their believers, whispering special prayers into their ears. Whisperers are mostly elderly women who live in small villages in the Podlasie region in the eastern part of Poland, a few kilometers from Belarus. Their practice is derived from the Orthodox church but today the church don’t want to recognize them, distancing itself from them. They have been part of the local culture for hundreds of years in the Podlasie region, a land of mysticism and symbols that dictate the rhythm of life for many people living there. In the picture a whisperer performs the curing of a young girl by kneeling down under a holy icon of St. Ann during a procession in Stary Kornin village.”

Tomasz Lazar January 12, 2012

From the series “Coastline”, Pobierowo, Poland 2010.

Tomasz Lazar (b. 1985, Poland) studied at the West Pomeranian University of Information Technology. He is currently a first year student at the Institute of Creative Photography in Opava (the Czech Republic). His work has been exhibited  in Poland and has been published in Radiate Magazine. Tomasz is currently working on a project titled Theater of Life, whose task is to move aspects of everyday life and cultural changes taking place in society as a result of the development of media and technology in the world. He was nominated for  International Photography Award 2011 in the category of “Deeper Perspective Photographer of the Year” and was also a participant in Eddie Adams Workshop in 2011.

About Photograph:

“This image shows a group of people taking part in competitions on the beach – searching for treasures in Pobierowo. Every year this event is organized for sunbathers.When I went to the beach and saw this situation, I knew I had to take a photo of it. The people were so busy looking for treasures they hardly noticed me. I took a few frames and went on. The entire scene looked like a huge one agricultural field. This photo is also part of my long-term project called Coastline. It is focus on three aspects: life of fisherman families, life on the beach and the landscapes.”

Dorothee Deiss March 15, 2010

Home visit from the series “The Doctor”. Poland, 2006

Dorothee Deiss (b. 1961, Germany) studied medicine and photography and works as photographer and pediatrician in Berlin. She focuses on editorial stories,  photography is her way to communicate, to approach these strangers and their stories. Her work has been published in numerous German and European magazines including the Financial Times, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Welt am Sonntag, Die Zeit, Spiegel, Stern and has been exhibited in Seattle, Vermont, Paris, Warsaw, Lithuania and Berlin.

About the Photograph:

“The  region of the German-Polish border was politically divided in the wake of the Second World War, but its cultural memory has proven sturdier than any division. Who ever lives in the borderland is at home on both sides of the border. But what are things really like in this region? Where do the new borders run, the borders between hope and resignation? A contradictory picture of the borderland between Germany and Poland thus emerges at the time of the EU enlargement. To learn more about our neighbors on the other side of the border I traveled endless times with my old VW camper  through Poland. By accident I met an general practitioner who lived in the small city Krosno Odrzanskie.  I took this picture during the home visit by the doctor.  The old woman represents the uncertainty and fear, the hope and confidence after the recent reunification.”

Adam Panczuk November 4, 2009

Rafal, From the Karczeby series

Adam Panczuk (b.1978, Poland). After finishing secondary school, Adam moved to Poznań, where he took up studies at the University of Economics and Academy of Fine Arts in Poznan. He graduated in 2005.and traveled through Asia from the  Mid East to Siam taking photos. He reported on rickshaw pullers in India and on brothels in Bangkok. Five years ago he started working on a project about a Polish village which focused on the relationship between human beings and their relation to the earth, the seasons. In 2009 he won first prize at the Grand Press Photo in Poland and was also selected for the short list at the 2009 Sony World Photography Awards. He has also been awarded from the National Geographic Photography Contest.

About the Photograph:

“The photo comes from the Karczeby series. Karczeby in one of the dialects spoken in the east of Poland, which is a mixture of Polish and Belorussian. It is also a vernacular word for people strongly attached to the land they cultivate. A  Karczeb is also called a stump with roots still stuck in the earth after the tree has been cut down – allegorical for the problems the various aggressive authorities have had with these people, trying to eradicate or dislocate them. However, they still stand tall on their land. And when a Karczeb farmer’s life comes to an end, he is buried in his soil, later on tilled by his children or grandchildren.  In the photo, Rafal, who  graduated from Law school at Warsaw University returned to father’s house to help him cultivate his 70-hectares farm.”

Daniel Rosenthal August 10, 2009

Migrant workers, Plaszkowa Poland 2008

Daniel Rosenthal (b. 1973 Germany), took up photography during his engagement in the antifascist movement in his hometown Heidelberg and quickly realized that it was the perfect means to address ignored  existing problems in a very powerful and satisfying way. Since then his interest for reporting on social and political topics has taken him around the world: US sanctions on Iraq, Chechen refugees, street children in Berlin, forced child labor in  the Ivory Coast, occupational accidents in China etc. His work appeared in GEO, Stern, de Volkskrant, Chrismon, Greenpeace Mag., Sunday Times Mag., Independent Saturday Mag., Vrij Nederland and received the Hansel-Mieth Award 2008 and Lead Award-Picture of the Year 2008 amongst others. He has a diploma in photo and design from Lette-School-Berlin and later  studied photojournalism at London College of Communication.

About the Photograph:

“This is a photograph I shot last year during an assignment for GEO Magazine on demographic changes in Europe due to migrant workers. Poland was the first part of  the story. I arrived in the tiny Polish village of Plaszkowa on Easter Monday (the most important Polish feast day) during heavy snowfall to meet Marian Tarasek for the first time (49 years, on the right). It was the day before he had to travel back to Ireland where he found a job as a construction worker, one of the many thousand Polish migrant workers there.  Marian was very shy and thoughtful and it was obvious that having to leave his loved ones for another month made him sad. We sat down in silence underneath the religious icons on the wall. Suddenly his sons Damian and Mateusz came along and Marians wife served the traditional Polish beetroot soup, that’s when everything fell into place and the situation transformed into a biblical scene, embodying believe, humility and tradition mixed with everyday life. For me it was exactly one of those rare moments that make photography magical and loveable.“

Aga Luczakowska November 3, 2008

Volleyball Fans, Katowice Poland 2006

Aga Luczakowska (b.1981, Poland) graduated from the University of Silesia, with a masters degree in Geography. She worked for one year as a staff photographer  for the polish daily newspaper Dziennik Zachodni in 2006. In 2007 Aga began frelancing and joined Atlas Press Photo Agency in addition to begin working with Silesian Magazine and other newspapers in Poland. In 2007, she also traveled  to Turkey and started her project on women in Istanbul and attended the Eddie Adams Workshop. This year Aga been awarded a scholarship to attend the Masterclass “Focus On Monferrato 2008″ hosted by Toscana Photographic Workshops. She is currently based in Poland.

About the Photograph:

“I photographed these volleyball fans in Poland. We Poles are considered one of the most impassioned  fans in the world. It was the last minute of the final round between Poland and United States when I made this photo of the spectators watching the game on  a giant video screen. I concentrated on their emotions rather than the actual players. This shot was from the last minute of the game.”

Przemysław Pokrycki June 12, 2008

First communion of Tomasz Wypasek, Poland 2006

Born in 1974, Przemysław Pokrycki is a Polish press photographer. He works as a freelancer and is a regular contributor to Polish magazines. Przemysław graduated from the photography department at the Film School in Łódź, Poland in 2002. In addition to his editorial work he has been part of several group shows including: International Discoveries, FotoFest. Houston 2007, The New Dokumentalists, Warsaw, 2006 and Poland Now, Schindler’s Factory, Cracow, 2006. His solo exhibits include: Rites de Passage, Starmach Gallery, Cracow, 2007 and Laborers, Luksfera Gallery, Warsaw, 2004

About the Photograph:

From the series Rites of Passage. “All my projects are based in Poland. The subjects are either friends or people I meet when photographing for the press. With my pictures I describe the world around me. This reality is very familiar but sometimes very surprising. There so many photographic projects to be done in Poland. I want to photograph here. I don’t look for extreme situations such as war, hunger or disasters. Society in itself is most interesting for me especially the changing life styles and standard of living after the transformation in 1989. I regret I didn’t start my projects 20 years ago.”