Today we live under the pressure of big events.
We watch the news and for a while we feel responsible for the whole world ?then with relief we cast the burden aside. Everything we touch becomes global in character. Even though the whole world seems to be within our reach, it is difficult to see the reality hiding behind the news ? people, who in spite of all, live, work, love, pray?
When I look at Elzbieta Piekacz?s photos, which she took during her four year adventure in Asia, I remember a poem by Borys Pasternak from his early collection? Life?. Reality is full of details. The details best represent what is good and lasting.
Siberia, China, Vietnam, Burma, Tibet, India, Pakistan, Iran.
These photos are full of peace. The only exception is the shocking series ?Slaughter House? documenting slaughtering of dogs in China in a way that nobody had shown before.
What?s characteristic in these photos is that they do not symbolize anything nor serve any purpose like an incidental poster. They do not want to force any meaning.
An old Vietnamese woman with a spotted face, who is looking at us from under her hat, is just that ? a unique Vietnamese woman.A girl from Burma, bent under a pile of palm bark, openly smiles at the camera and the huge cloud behind her does not symbolize anything ? it?s just a cloud.
Elzbieta Piekacz?s photos document her encounters with people. Judging by the way the men and women looked at her camera ? it was a nice experience.
It?s this kind of a photo you strongly feel the presence and smile of the photographer.
?Nice World? was the temporary title of the series of reports Elzbieta Piekacz and Mariusz Front wrote during their journey. After they met with a good reception of ? Double Portrait ?(2001) ? Mariusz?s debut as a director and Elzbieta playing a person resembling herself ? they took off and instead of working on a new film project they started working on themselves. They started on a journey with a digital and Sony cameras.
Knowing about their plans I would periodically send them emails. When I asked where they were ? in Zebrzydowice or Sichaun? ? I got the answer: ?We got stuck. The next train to Shanghai is tomorrow so we will spend Christmas Eve in one of the shabby taverns by the river. Then we?ll go further south to collect our thoughts, to hold on to our impressions in the shade of green papaya?.
They settled in Hanoi. Every couple of months they sent reports to Gazeta Wyborcza signed ?mario& mela?. They entitled them contrarily ? From the center of optimism?. What were their accomplishments? Mariusz studied traditional techniques of ( lake, japan ) painting and painting on silk in the Hanoi school of fine arts. Elzbieta explored the city through her camera. One day the rainy sky over Hanoi brought up melancholy ?? it was that night 365 days ago: Zebrzydowice train station? willow-green neon? train to Moscow,,,. we are running late? the mandarins fell on the sidewalk?door slammed?first bed of board?first fellow- traveler?first view out the window.
Somebody?s dream is between us.?
In January they went to Laos. The Mekkong river brought them to Cambodia . Thailand. was next. When they got to Bangkok it was time to answer the question: what?s next? People were surprised by this journey. Their friends from Poland were afraid that Mario and Mela would get stuck in Asia for ever. They were afraid the journey would never end.
Today, in Warsaw when I talk to Mela about her new photos, I have a feeling she is still on a journey. Their journey is going on?Is that the way it will stay?
Tadeusz Sobolewski
MELA
{Elzbieta Piekacz}
My first touch with art was via theatre. I studed at the Wroclaw Theatre Academy (1991 - 1995). At 1996 - 2002 as an actress I cooperated with Warsaw theatres: Dramatyczny, Narodowy, Scena Prezentacje and Na Woli. Then I was expressing my sensitivity by the language of film. I was an actress but I was also present at the other side of the camera as an assistant director (at 1998 I was an assistant of director in the Television Theatre 'Enigmatic Variations' directed by Mariusz Front), and co-author of screenplays and adaptations, co-director of photography (2001 - major part in the movie 'Double Portrait' by Mariusz Front, co-author of screenplay and photography). At 2001 I recived Actor's award for 'Double Portrait' at the Koszalin Film Festival. At 2001 I studied in the Developing Countries Institute on the Warsaw University. During my 4-year film journey I started making pictures and discovered that this tool is the closest to me. When returned, I decided to deepen my knowledge in the European Academy of Photography in Warsaw. The school taught me how to express myself better via photography, encouraged me to new projects, made me realize that everything is a way. I benefited a lot from the workshops with such personalities as Alex Majoli, Tomek Sikora, Jan Grarup or Michael Ackerman. I work as a freelance photographer and until now I had publications in such Polish magazine as: Zwierciadlo, Foto, Rzeczpospolita, Przekroj, Newsweek, Film and international: PhotoArt Magazine, Photoicon, Silvershotz, Eyemazing, the Guardian. Rewards such as 1st and 3rd prize at 2007 Press Photo BGZ competition, redline at Zwierciadlo magazine - Look into Yourself Competition, redline at Ways International Photo Competition, 4 honorable mentions at 2007 International Photo Awards, 1th and 3th prize in Px3 Prix de la Photographie Paris 2008, I was also one of 2007 Critical Mass finalist. In October 2007 I had an individual exhibition entitled: Appointment. Mirror Crumb, organised by Batory Foundation in Warsaw. In July 2008 one of my project: Between was exhibited on International Photo Festival Ghar al Melah in Tunisia. In October 2008 was my first exhibition in London in Atrium Gallery, in December 2008 Silvershotz Magazine publish my portfolio in Folio 2008. In December 2009 I had an exhibition: "From the Barber's life" in London and portfolio in RPC Journal.
Contact:
melaphoto.net
mela0701@yahoo.pl
