SECOND PLACE WINNER - People: Portrait (AMATEUR)
Black is not a colour...
Photo © Aga Kunicka
Support this photographer - share this work on Facebook.
The series was taken in 2015 in Poland and contains a huge dose of documental aspect. The people on the photographs posed wearing their own outfits, the same they would wear to the Castle Party in Bolków, to the Vampiriada or any other event.
On weekdays they often have professions that require university education and high level of skill. Their interests run from 19th century Goth literature (Keats, Poe, Baudelaire) to mysticism, magic, and occultism, vampirism, demonology and parapsychology.
The picture of Goths that emerges from this series is that of remarkably creative people. This can be seen, in their own designs and outfits made with their own hands (some ladies spent several months to create the attire of their dreams, they have whole collections of dresses and corsets), but also in high activity in other areas of creation and art interests. This movement has developed a very characteristic, albeit diverse image. Goth clothes include both highly sophisticated, retro-style creations inspired by 19th century aristocracy, and futuristic style. Some have Goth aliases.
For me, this fascination with exceptional outfit can be associated with the search for romanticism and non-realism, but also with very expensive clothes seen on catwalks and in fashion magazines. It is also very interesting how alternative styles and high fashion merge with each other, inspire one another and contribute to a game of sorts between the clothes worn by the representatives of alternative cultures and the creations by the world's most expensive fashion designers (e.g.: John Galliano). At the same time, in fashion world, black means elegance and luxury, while in Christian rites, it stands for sin and death. This symbolic nature changes the way we perceive the same outfit, depending on where we place it.
Awards and special prizes:
Several awards and special prizes in “Foto” magazine contests held in 2002, 2003 and 2005
Special prize from “Phototomagazin” monthly, Russia – 2002
1st award in Radio Zet monthly contest on the theme “Places worth going back to”
2nd award, cat. People/Portrait – IPOTY 2015
Grand prix, cat. My Poland – migrants and refugees daily life- HumanDoc 2016
Exhibitions:
Collective exhibition inTashkent and Brussels, UN photo contest on the theme “Water is Life”, the Tashkent House of Photography, the Academy of Arts of Uzbekistan – 2003
Collective exhibition in Brussels, “I live with MS in Poland” contest, “Pozytywny impuls” quarterly magazine and Polish MS Society – 2007
Collective exhibition in Old Gallery ZPAF, July 2013, September 2014
Individual exhibition “A step away from paradise …” Muranow Station Foundation, Warsaw – June 2016 and the Center for Culture and Tourism, Mrągowo – September 2016
Individual exhibition “A step away from paradise …”, Gallery of Photography B & B, Bielsko-Biala – October 2016
BACK TO GALLERY
The series was taken in 2015 in Poland and contains a huge dose of documental aspect. The people on the photographs posed wearing their own outfits, the same they would wear to the Castle Party in Bolków, to the Vampiriada or any other event.
On weekdays they often have professions that require university education and high level of skill. Their interests run from 19th century Goth literature (Keats, Poe, Baudelaire) to mysticism, magic, and occultism, vampirism, demonology and parapsychology.
The picture of Goths that emerges from this series is that of remarkably creative people. This can be seen, in their own designs and outfits made with their own hands (some ladies spent several months to create the attire of their dreams, they have whole collections of dresses and corsets), but also in high activity in other areas of creation and art interests. This movement has developed a very characteristic, albeit diverse image. Goth clothes include both highly sophisticated, retro-style creations inspired by 19th century aristocracy, and futuristic style. Some have Goth aliases.
For me, this fascination with exceptional outfit can be associated with the search for romanticism and non-realism, but also with very expensive clothes seen on catwalks and in fashion magazines. It is also very interesting how alternative styles and high fashion merge with each other, inspire one another and contribute to a game of sorts between the clothes worn by the representatives of alternative cultures and the creations by the world's most expensive fashion designers (e.g.: John Galliano). At the same time, in fashion world, black means elegance and luxury, while in Christian rites, it stands for sin and death. This symbolic nature changes the way we perceive the same outfit, depending on where we place it.
About author:
Graduate of School of Association of Polish Art Photographers.Awards and special prizes:
Several awards and special prizes in “Foto” magazine contests held in 2002, 2003 and 2005
Special prize from “Phototomagazin” monthly, Russia – 2002
1st award in Radio Zet monthly contest on the theme “Places worth going back to”
2nd award, cat. People/Portrait – IPOTY 2015
Grand prix, cat. My Poland – migrants and refugees daily life- HumanDoc 2016
Exhibitions:
Collective exhibition inTashkent and Brussels, UN photo contest on the theme “Water is Life”, the Tashkent House of Photography, the Academy of Arts of Uzbekistan – 2003
Collective exhibition in Brussels, “I live with MS in Poland” contest, “Pozytywny impuls” quarterly magazine and Polish MS Society – 2007
Collective exhibition in Old Gallery ZPAF, July 2013, September 2014
Individual exhibition “A step away from paradise …” Muranow Station Foundation, Warsaw – June 2016 and the Center for Culture and Tourism, Mrągowo – September 2016
Individual exhibition “A step away from paradise …”, Gallery of Photography B & B, Bielsko-Biala – October 2016
BACK TO GALLERY
