@los_anjayles

Having grown up in Poland, a country once behind the Iron Curtain – gloomy, dreary, and homogenous – I find the streets of LA a fascinating theater, which is the polar opposite of what I experienced as a young boy. In my work I aim to capture my fascination with the energy, liveliness, diversity and colorfulness that comes with my favorite subjects: people in their urban environment. Rather than painstakingly compose my photos, I start by making a human connection and go for spontaneity to be able to record and express what I see as fleeting moments of uncomplicated optimism. As I move through the city, camera in hand, I am as energized by the street noise and rhythm as I am inspired by changing faces and shifting circumstances, startling contrasts and unexpected juxtapositions, which inform my photography: drama and theatricality vs. authenticity and effortlessness, movement and action vs. suspension and pause. 

I take my passion for street photography into my commercial work when shooting for fashion editorials. I am unafraid to break out of established norms and aesthetic styles and I look for models that challenge formulaic conceptions of beauty and glamour. I am drawn to imperfections and risqué representations as I consider them to be genuine and frank and thus more captivating. Following my street photography experience, I like to establish unique and unexpected contexts for displaying designers’ creations. I believe that by providing unlikely contrasts I am able to draw and keep the viewer’s attention in a world saturated with images. Discovering poetic dimensions of the street we walk every day by using it as a background for my models in dramatic costumes lets me record fleeting moments that intensify the appeal of my photographs. 

I am after bringing a more documentary dimension to fashion imagery. Placing my models against the hustle and bustle of the city I want to make them part of the environment and act in a way similar to how my street photography subjects effortlessly and naturally flaunt their outfits and accessories without compromising their identity. It is all about freedom, authenticity, fun, and spontaneity.