eastern europe highlanders

  INTRODUCTION

POLISH HIGHLANDERS IS A PHOTO-REPORTAGE ABOUT A SEPERATE ETHNIC GROUP BASED IN THE SOUTH OF POLAND.

THE PROJECT ITSELF WAS DIVIDED INTO FOUR  PARTS- WEATHER SEASONS- SUMMER/AUTUMN/WINTER AND SPRING, AND IT FOLLOWS DAY TO DAY LIFE, WORK, PEOPLE AND THE PLACE WHERE THEY LIVE WHILE NATURE FULFILLS ITS CYCLE.
WHAT REMAINS CONSTANT IS THE APPRECIATION OF FAMILY, HARD WORK, HERITAGE AND EVERYDAY HEROISM VISIBLE IN THE SMALLEST TASKS.

I HAVE BEEN WITNESS AND PARTICIPANT OF THEIR LIFES BECOMING PART OF THEIR SECLUDED COMMUNITY AT LEAST FOR A TINY MOMENT IN TIME.
THAT ALLOWED ME TO PORTRAY THEM WITH HONESTY AND CONFIDENCE, AND ALLOWED THEM TO FEEL SAFE WITH MY LENS POINTED TOWARDS THEIR DIRECTION.

THIS PROJECT IS AN ENQUIRY INTO ETHNOSOCIOLOGY AND CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY  THROUGH PHOTOGRAPHIC MEANS.
MOST OF ALL IT IS A PHOTO-STORY ABOUT MAYBE ONE OF THE LAST SOCIETIES IN WHICH A HUMAN BEING COMES IN FRONT OF MONEY, WHERE FAMILY AND FRIENDSHIP MATTERS, AND MORE OVER ITS VITAL FOR OVERALL CONDITION OF COMMUNITY ITSELF. HOWEVER, IT ALSO DRAWS UPON ASPECTS OF UNKNOWN, EXTINCT AND ITS A PHOTOGRAPHIC DOCUMENTATION OF HOW THE HERITAGE OF THEIR ANCESTORS SURVIVES IN THE 21st CENTURY.