PL/Jarocin
The first part of the workshop took place in Jarocin, a small town in Western Poland, and was focused on Jarocin’s rock music festival. The festival was first held in the early 1980s, and gave expression to Polish aspirations to freedom of speech and tolerance.
During this vibrant and dynamic event, we learned how to shoot photographs which have both documentary and artistic value.
The workshop was led by Tomasz Tomaszewski, a press photographer who worked for the American edition of National Geographic for over twenty years. He shared his knowledge about photography as an art form and photo editing as a key to communicating a visual message.
PL/Silesia
This presentation is the fruit of the second part of the workshop run by the Academy, and depicts everyday life in Silesia, a region situated in south-west Poland. This region has been shaped by the coal-mining industry and this has shaped its unique culture.
Arkadiusz Gola, a Polish press photographer who works for a Silesian weekly magazine “Dziennik Zachodni”, led the workshop. In his work, he aims to spread awareness of the culture and history of contemporary Silesia.
The workshop had a full and varied program. It provided the opportunity to photograph areas with post-industrial architecture. We benefitted greatly from conversation with the inhabitants of these areas.
The purpose of the project was to show how complex and diverse Polish culture and history are. Everyone tried to find an element in the environment which inspired them, and to bring it out in their photographs. It was a wonderful experience and great fun for those who took part. The next of the Academy’s workshops will take place in Norway next summer.