One of the important impulses that drove me to create this photo series was the note made in 2010 by the journalist Joe Chandler. In her text she expresses the emotions experienced when visiting the Polish-Soviet polar station in Antarctica. Fascinated by the report, I started to create a kind of an archive comprising different materials regarding Polish polar expeditions (1958–1979). A small portion of the White Land gained a new technical representation - diorama created using a computer-controlled miller. I could again encode the image with my own photographic narration.
Jakub Wawrzak (b. 1989 in Torun, Poland) graduated from the Nicolaus Copernicus University, Department of Fine Arts. In 2014 he started his job as an assistant in the Department of Visual Arts at the University of Technology and Life Sciences in Bydgoszcz. In 2017 he got a position as assistant in the Department of Graphic Art at the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun. In 2018 he received his PhD degree in fine arts (NCU). In his art-research project he investigates the phenomenon of reception of diorama, with particular emphasis on the phenomenon of immersion and virtual images.
Awards - Annual Photography Awards 2020, Fine Art Photographer of the Year
- 7th Fine Art Photography Awards, Nominee [Conceptual]
- All About Photo Awards 2021, Particular Merit Mention
- Monochrome Photography Awards 2020, Honorable Mention
- Smithsonian Magazine, Photo of the Day [01.09.21]
- Narratives - International Juried Photography Exhibition [Praxis Gallery, Minneapolis], Honorable Mention
- Moscow International Foto Awards 2019, Silver Award [Editorial-Environmental]
- Moscow International Foto Awards 2019, Bronze Award [Science-Environment]
- Tokyo International Foto Awards 2018, 1st Place Winner [Events]
- Tokyo International Foto Awards 2018, Gold Award [Events - other]
- Tokyo International Foto Awards 2018, Silver Award [Editorial - Photo Essay]
- Gomma Grant 2018, shortlist
- International Photography Awards, Honorable Mention [Editorial: Other]
- 18. International Photo-Contest – Set in Świdnica, Grand Prix
- 18. International Photo-Contest – Set in Świdnica, 2nd Place Winner [Reportage Photography]
- 13. Photographic Open Championship in Olsztyn, Grand Prix
- 13. Photographic Open Championship in Olsztyn, Golden Glass [Human]
- 22. National Photo Contest „Portrait” in Trzcianka, 1st Place Winner
- 27. National Salon of Fine Art Photography in Żary, 1st Place Winner
- Moscow International Foto Awards 2017, Silver Award [People: Portrait]
- Moscow International Foto Awards 2017, Honorable Mention [People: Portrait]
- International Photography Awards 2017, 10 Honorable Mentions [in 7 Categories]
