- I once pushed a police officer away to take a picture. It wasn't until later, when I got home, that I realized it was a "violation of bodily integrity of a public officer on duty," which could have ended very badly for me - This is what Piotr Nowak confessed to me recently. He photographed, as he does every year, the Wrzesnia Music Weekend, or rather, as usual, what was happening next to the mainstream events.
Piotr Nowak, born in 1984, a member of ZPAF, does not walk the beaten path, he is not a full-time photojournalist for a large or small newspaper, who is paid by anyone for what he does. Nor does he take advantage of grants offered by various institutions, as the very thought of filling out forms terrifies him. He is painfully independent, meaning - let's not play with euphemisms - not very wealthy and without family support, but free. No roll of film, bottle of developer or packet of photographic paper, no one buys him; for everything connected with photopassion, he has to earn it himself in the factory, where he works three shifts. On top of that, for several years he has been struggling with a chronic illness, which, not under the National Health Fund (again - for his own money!), he treats in Szczecin. However, he is strong enough that he does not waste time, he is active on many artistic levels despite life's adversities: on the website of "Kwartalnik Fotografia" he runs the Events section, edits the profiles of "KF" on FB and Instagram, typeset "KF" for print, writes articles for the website and for the printed issue of KF, and in the Wrzesnia Cultural Center for 10 years he has been running a very active photography club - Moment. He is also passionate about historical techniques and technologies, and is attracted to experimentation. He is extremely ambitious and hard-working, and is constantly developing. In parallel with photography, he also creates poetry, and is the author of several volumes. Despite his inclinations into various, often "offbeat" photographic realms, in my opinion, and I have been repeating this to him for more than a dozen years, his place is on the street. And it is to street photography that he owes the greatest interest of the public and critics in his work. In the fall of 2023, for example, for his May People project he received the Grand Prix at the WLKP DOC competition organized by the Provincial Public Library and Center for Cultural Animation in Poznan, his second series, Soltysiada 2023, telling the story of recreational and entertainment competitions in Kołaczkowo, won the Culture and Communities category in the same competition. After this success, Piotr gave an interview to Joanna Lewandowska of "Wiadomości Wrzesińska":
Joanna Lewandowska: You write on your blog Okiemczasu that you are reluctant to take part in contests, but this time you were mobilized by your girlfriend. Was encouragement from a loved one crucial, or were there other factors?
Piotr Nowak: - It's a fact that my girlfriend Milena mobilized me in her own way to send my works to the Wielkopolska DOC. Through September and October I also had such a period that I found the strength to scan quite a lot of my negatives finally. I mainly wanted to archive the project I Don't Watch Me Disappear, which Milena and I worked on for over a year. Among the negatives were those of the May people, and the more I rediscovered frames from that project, the more I felt they were worth showing to others. At some point I thought that maybe the photographs were worth sending after all. Not for the prize, but just for people to see them.
What do the rewards mean to you?
- It is certainly nice for everyone. The financial reward also comes in handy, because who doesn't have expenses these days, and if you still have poor health, even more so. For me, however, the biggest reward is the fact that my photographs and the stories they contain have gone out to the people.
What emotions did you feel while working on May people?
- The project started back in 2014, and it was not a good period in my life. At the time, I lived in a small studio apartment on Slowackiego Street and walked the streets alone, without much purpose. I didn't feel like it, and I didn't even have anyone to go to the market with during the music weekend. Loneliness and depression most simply caused me pain and I couldn't even be among people. However, I decided to pick up a camera and go see the event with the idea that maybe I would at least take some pictures and feel better. I'll admit that for the first few years, a deep sadness accompanied me while taking pictures. Because, after all, I spent hours there walking around and looking at people having fun, who are in love, happy, and so on. I photographed what I didn't have myself. Over time, a certain narrative and process of photographing the people gathering there began to form. A purpose was clarifying. Years later, most people had already become accustomed to me, and it was easier for me to build the project as I had envisioned it. However, the truth is that the sensitivity of feeling and seeing is unchanged, and I am still accompanied by strong emotions and deep feelings when photographing. Mixed together are excitement, but also humble attention, awareness of what is being done and that it is important.
What is the most challenging thing about street photography?
- I think that in any field of photography, the hardest thing is always to start a project, keep going and not let go, even when your health goes sour or you encounter difficult life situations. For me, unfortunately, life never spared me, but this great love for photography kept me moving and had a purpose, and thus continued to live. When you go out on the street with a sense of mission, all difficulties disappear, even in street photography, when you have to be close to people, often in different
difficult and even dangerous moments. Over the years, a person stops blocking himself, taking pictures of people, getting close to them (I don't use zoom lenses, only fixed-focus lenses, 20 mm, 35 mm, that is, I have to get very close to a person). Besides, I always tell myself that I have only one life and I don't have time to be afraid, to block, to do nothing!
And what gives you the most satisfaction in street photography?
- Street photography gives that direct relationship with a person. This is when the energy is born, which is transferred to the photo. That's why I always emphasize that every photograph is not only a document of a scene, of a person, but also a record of that energy, and also a self-portrait of the photographer. This is what I really like and value in photography in general. If we combine the high sensitivity of the photographer, his workshop and the aforementioned energy that is created during photography, then we can say that a given photo is good. Then such photography gives joy, but most of all fulfillment. It is a bit like writing poems - you can breathe a sigh of relief and feel that you have done something important.
Looking at the heroes of your photographs, I wonder what their story is. Are there any words, stories left behind for you besides the image?
- I don't often get to talk to the subjects of my photos, especially the subjects of May people. Most often it is that I watch a scene, a person, a frame for a while, and then I come up and take a picture. Mostly it ends there and no conversation ensues. There are also people, mostly groups, who ask to be photographed. Interestingly, they don't even ask for the photograph - where they will find it. I think that this "May society" is heavily engrossed in the event and does not have time for any larger relationships, acquaintances, conversations. This is fine with me, too. However, there are people I meet every day in the city. With some I say "hello" to each other, others have asked to send a photo (but that's literally a few people). There are also those to whom I took a photo, and today they are no longer in this world. This year it was a young boy. In May he was having fun, he got acquainted with my friends, and then I heard that he committed suicide. So somewhere these individuals remain more in the memory, in the heart, somewhere, but the majority, however, is the "common organism" of this May event, which I have been photographing for years. Finally, I just wanted to add that these "May stories" are also recorded by me on color material, specifically Fuji and Agfa slides, and I firmly believe that one day it will be possible to make a large exhibition, where I will be able to present both monochromes and color works from this project.
Thank you for the interview.
The article appeared in the latest issue of Photography Quarterly
You can buy it here - KF45
Piotr Nowak (1984) - photographer, poet, critic, member of ZPAF. Documentalist, street photographer, reporter, but also surrealist in his photographic expressions. Organizer of exhibitions and cultural events in Września. Founder of several local photography clubs. Since 2012 he has been running the Moment Club at the Wrzesnia Cultural Center. Passionate about photography, regionalist. Author of
and participant in many photo exhibitions across the country.
His body of work also includes publications with poetry
and drawings. Deputy editor-in-chief of "Quarterly Photography"
Joanna Lewandowska - Journalist for "Wiadomości Wrzesińska", specializes in social, urban and cultural issues.
