Presence is a photography series that was developed throughout the last years between Poland and France. Analogue is used because of its sensitivity to light and its longer processing time, which correspond with the nature of the creative process. Analogue also has sensitivity and delicacy which brings out the expression of people and landscapes.

Presence may simply mean the physical existence of someone who is there, but who may go away, which will affirm their absence. One keeps the image of another person either in their mind — as a memory — or in a form of a photograph. I reconstruct this image — the situation, the state of mind of the person whom I photographed — in my imagination, and it gets erased once the film is developed. Photographs as physical objects may substitute memories. The reference to time and space from the past is possible thanks to the camera, which, through the principle of camera obscura serves to capture the views of the outside world. To photograph someone is to me based on the empathy and the awaiting for the portrayed to unfold their personal truth. I later combine the portraits with landscapes; places far from the big cities, simple and authentic, which could constitute symbolic shelters for portrayed people.

When looking at portraits, we often have the feeling of being watched by the photographed. We can look into their eyes, too. There is a certain distance between the spectator and the portrayed person, who used to look into the lens of the camera. The portrayed’s sight allows us to read their psychological activity. The more striking the presence of the person photographed, the deeper the spectator's relationship with their representation.

PARIS / WARSAW / SZCZUCIN 2017-2019