Illustrations for Unpublished Fairy Tales
"Illustrations for Unpublished Fairy Tales" is a series of photographs rooted in the author's vivid imagination. They can be read as standalone images, or as an endless cycle of fairy-tale stories — an invitation to journey through a painterly sensibility that meets reality on the plane of photography. This cycle should be seen as wonder at a dream that could exist, and be caught by the camera. The author gathers and stores thoughts about images in the form of theatrical scenes, then hands them to us in frames filled with a mysterious, fairy-tale atmosphere. Each of the presented stories is a separate undertaking, offering a chance to step away from reality and immerse oneself in a world of fantasy. Props gathered and made for the needs of successive photographic works play an enormous role in these stories. The author often invites friends to take part in the realizations. He chooses the characters himself, creates the situations, and finds the places needed to bring them to life. During the shoots, the photographer also steps into the role of actor — while the camera, precisely set and triggered by a self-timer, records a scene conceived beforehand. The author admits that this way of working gives him great freedom in shaping the whole event. The works that make up the cycle are considered, ordered and — most importantly — precisely planned frames. Together they form an attempt at dialogue with the viewer's childlike sensibility, leaving room for their own interpretations. This is a cycle worth returning to, one in which further, previously overlooked details can be found time and again. — Małgorzata Błaszczyk / Strefa A Gallery
