Exhibition site –Academic Centre of Culture and Art „Od Nowa”, Torun
Vernissage – 6th of December, 2014 at 12.00
Exhibition opened until – 31st of December, 2014
I would like to invite you on a journey. You may think “To the end of the world?” Well, not quite, rather to the nearest neighbourhood. Perhaps, just outside the city, maybe in your own garden… There is an endless performance around us teeming with life, dying and reviving over and over again in an eternal cycle of life. Sometimes, we miss that magic by passing by and paying no attention to it.
Showing you my photographs, I always underline that it is Mother Nature creating these views and I am only a modest draftsman. The images, taken mostly within Zachodniopomorskie Voivodeship (the vast majority of them near Kolobrzeg), present the diversity of bird-life in my area. As you can see, it is not necessary to go far to experience something unusual. Nature always inspired me.
Since early childhood I used to wander through the fields. Unfortunately, there were plenty of other activities that changed my career priorities and turned my life path into entirely different directions. Every now and then my fondness to nature returned. Only in 2004 it transformed into passion that revealed itself in photography. It was much specialised photography, focused exclusively on bird-life. I have learned to find the winged subjects of my pictures in my nearby surroundings. Despite the fact that my area is not rich in diverse bird-life, thanks to vast knowledge of the terrain, I managed to take good photographs.
Sometimes such extraordinary performance takes place right next to us. But, as you well know, it is essential to keep patient and persistent to properly capture this memorable spectacle. Getting up in the middle of the night, laborious crawling in the sand, wading through muddy swamp or snow drifts, building shelters – lookouts or swimming in the pool with self-made raft it all forms a life adventure. Naturally, an adult playing forest man’s games can surprise and make one laugh, but such requirements need to be met to achieve success in wildlife photography and not to interfere in animals’ lives. It is essential to remain unnoticed because only then they act naturally. Therefore, the photographer needs to arrive during the night, camouflaged and ready to solve unpredictable difficulties. It is crucial to stay unnoticed and not to affect the surroundings. Much can be said about the adventures and overcoming difficulties and own weaknesses, but I prefer to draw attention to the objects of my photography. They are true and uncompromising; make it not possible to pass them by without drawing your attention. They are fascinating and moving with their beauty, but horrifying when fighting for food and survival. They are real life heroes whilst fighting with a competitor, attacker or struggling against the cold of snowy winter in the middle of April.
The exhibition Pictures Sketched with a Feather consists of high quality prints in size 100x70cm. The photographs are presented in an innovative technology, on a new generation of photo surface CHROMALUXE – photo imaging metal surfaces. Technical support and printing was taken care of by EUROLAND, a company representing CHROMALUXE in Poland. Honorary patronage over the exhibition was taken by: Secretary of State in the Ministry of the Environment Mr. Stanislaw Gawlowski, Member of Parliament RP Mr. Marek Hok and Voivodeship Fund of Environmental Protection and Water Management in Szczecin with its president Mr. Jacek Chrzanowski.
All the images were taken in outdoors conditions and present birds living in the wild.
The photographs were taken with Nikon system:
Bodies: Nikon D70s, Nikon D300
Lens: Nikkor 300mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR
Teleconverters: Nikon TC-14E II, Nikon TC-20E II
