One day I opened my eyes wide and saw that the world I knew and co-created was completely destroyed. The values, feelings and beliefs that were most important to me had completely disintegrated. I fell into a deep sleep where nothing made sense. All my life I thought that such situations could happen to anyone but me. I was wrong."
When I read the above text on Marcin Miroslawski's author page, it seemed disturbingly familiar. Then came the images that became the fulfillment of these words, whose authors were, are and will be countless people. Martin invites us into his monochromatic diary, an intimate world that emerges from contrasting snapshots of his reality. This is the first thing that strikes the eye when looking at Marcin's photos. The high contrast of the photos is not just a treatment that exposes the objects depicted, but also creates a depth of dialogue to which the viewer is invited.
I got into a conversation with Miroslawski's photographs, with which I felt a closeness and understanding at first sight. My memory stores similar images and it is difficult for me not to look at these "snippets" subjectively. People with similar experiences and sensitivities find a common and universal language in such situations very quickly. I don't know Marcin personally, but you can read a lot from his works.
Taking a closer look at Martin's frames from the series Specter of life one senses authenticity and strong emotions, and gets the impression that they are drawn not only from the everyday life, but as if they appear, are called up from the darkness of dreams. One has the impression that they are clipped from memories that return to the author, arriving from the subconscious as soon as the eyelids close. This blackness, before the image appears, is like an analogy to the formation of a photograph and entering a dream cave, which is slowly illuminated by memories. These "cut frames" of reality are also like puzzles that put together the story of a man who, as he writes, wakes up, coming back from a dream.
I started looking for a way to wake up. After a very long time, I decided to return to photography. Photography became a kind of photo therapy for me. Specter of life is something of a diary, as well as a private document of my life. It is a long-term project that I plan to create throughout my life."
Photography as a life journal is usually a form of work on oneself. It is not only a pictorial documentation, which is very important and results mostly in great photographs, but above all these photographs are a collection of very intimate and strong emotions born by life events. They are like manuscripts that penetrate a person with their tangibility and authenticity. They make a person, looking at a given photograph, "enter" into the moment recorded on it, which comes to life, begins to reproduce itself like a film that was previously left on pause, awaiting the "viewer."
The author invites us to hit the "play" button with each photo and see how these images come to life and at the same time resurrect memories and reflections in ourselves. Such is the power of photographs, which are a strong documentary element in people's daily lives. Photographic diaries affect the author as much as the viewer. Because the power of honesty in images always works both ways and very often finds close connections, related stories and feelings.
Martin's writing of the photographic diary comes naturally, and the plasticity of the image (somewhat psychedelic, filled with anxiety), which is created by his emotions, resembles the still frames of a movie, and even evokes in me the images of David Lynch from the film Grandmother.
Marcin also sent a book wrapped in a black envelope to the "Quarterly" editorial office. On the envelope was laid a card with the words "Welcome to my world". I took advantage of the invitation! When you take your life out of the envelope, you enter the other person's world; you should feel this world with all your senses to get as close as possible and understand as much as possible. Martin knows very well how he wants to guide us through "his memoirs", his world, and that is why he presented the book and photographs to us in such a way.
Upon opening the book, a smaller black envelope lay on the first page, and inside it was a print. This kind of treatment makes the suspense surrounding the discovery last even longer. We step slowly behind the footsteps of the protagonist. In our hands and before our eyes we hold the life the photographer shared with us. Before we see the first photograph, the "architect of the diary" draws our attention with a written sentence on a white sheet - "Before you try to understand me... try to understand yourself."
Such a whole shows us the importance of photography and the power it has as an image and as content, but also as a tangible object that naturally brings us closer to a person, makes us care more carefully about the content we have in our hands before our eyes. Such diaries are seemingly a visual chaos. In my opinion, they are "multiplying" doors to a person's intimate space, the crossing of which also opens doors in ourselves.
Marcin Miroslawski - Born in 1986, lives in Kraśnik, Poland. Graduated from the Lublin School of Photography. Freelance photographer. He has published in: National Geographic magazine, Documentary magazine, GUP magazine. Awards include 2022 GUP/NEW Dutch Photo Talent 2022 + cover - Finalist, 2021 Gomma Photography Grant 2021, black and white - Finalist, 2021 Monochrome Awards 2021, artwork - Honorable Mention, 2021 ND Awards 2021, open subject - Honorable Mention, 2021 Monovision Photography Awards 2021, fine arts - Honorable Mention, 2021 Estate Photography Siracusa Sicily IT 5th ed. 2021 - Finalist, 2021 Moscow International Foto Awards 2021, fine arts - Honorable Mention, 2021 7th Art Photography Awards, open subject - Nomination, 2017 Eastreet 4 - Finalist, 2016 Nd Awards 2016, landscapes - Honorable Mention, 2016 Monochrome Photographer Awards 2016, landscapes - Honorable Mention, 2016 Tokyo International Foto Awards 2016 - Honorable Mention, 2015 DEBIUTY 2015 - Finalist, 2014 10 WKF National Geographic, fastest to perfection - Honorable Mention.
