I started photographing sometime around the turn of 2000/2001. My first attempts were of course analogue – I used the equipment of my Dad, who had a traditional photographic darkroom and several cameras.

I quickly caught the bug and found people (Gliwice Photographic Group) among whom I could develop my talent. I took photographs, developed negatives and made darkroom prints. Above all, I created portraits (pestering my closest female friends and forcing them to pose) and images of the city.

When I realised in 2006 that I no longer wanted to be a full-time social worker and that I couldn’t stand the structure, the bureaucracy and the starvation wages, I decided to change profession.
When I asked myself what else I could do and which direction I could go in, the answer was photography.

I don’t remember how I came up with the idea of becoming a photojournalist, but I figured the only way to get into the profession quickly was through assignments for the media. Working as a photojournalist became an obsession for me. I watched them taking pictures at various events, focusing their attention on the people and what was happening in front of their lenses.

[This photo is iconic for me. Summer 2006 – I’m about to leave my full-time job and commit myself one hundred percent to photojournalism. I’m walking next to Marcin Tomalka, a long-time Gazeta Wyborcza photojournalist, at a demonstration in Katowice. Unfortunately I don’t know who took the photo.]

That time was ultra-important to me. The decision to put together a portfolio in a few months, give notice, apply for a start-up grant and open a business – sounds a bit like a madwoman’s dream. And yet I had a deep conviction that this was the right path.

This story is multifaceted, I won’t write about it in detail here, but I invite you to watch an hour-long interview with me by Antoni Kreis as part of the series Let’s get to know each other / ZPAF (sorry, only in Polish): HERE.
In this conversation, I talk mainly about the people who have contributed to my development as a photographer, who have left important traces on my path.

Did I want a company? No. I didn’t think of myself in the ‘entrepreneur’ category. But it turned out to be the only way to realise my plan. Firstly, I had no chance of getting a full-time position at a newspaper, at the time photographers were being laid off rather than hired and the ‘self-employed’ option was readily available. Other forms of temporary contracts were not an option.
By opening a business, I was able to take advantage of grants. This was very important for me because, apart from analogue equipment, I had nothing. I had to buy a digital SLR camera, lenses, a laptop, a car.

Press

I formally launched the business in December 2006, but I had already started working with Gazeta Wyborcza and the photo agency ‘Edytor’. Then came Echo Miasta Katowice and single publications in other newspapers.
It was a brilliant and the best school of photography. I tackled a variety of subjects, often doing something for the first time. Fortunately, I was stubborn and learned quickly. In the first few months I fed mainly on adrenaline with cortisol sauce.

An exciting, important and crucial time, but very demanding. I was bearing the cost of such a lifestyle, of course, being fully available 24/7 – I had no time for friends or even analogue photography, it was difficult to plan anything, I rarely had a day off.
Although my running costs were low at that time, I wasn’t earning much, I invested in better equipment. I knew that this would bring results, that I was learning a lot.
I worked for the media for about five years in total.

Fotoreportages for companies

There came a time when the press had shrunk so much that I was no longer able to make a living from it. I considered various options, but the closest I came was reportage, which after all is a component of press photography.
I even did a few weddings at the time considering this field, but quickly came to the conclusion that it was totally not my direction.
Reportage at conferences, trade fairs, meetings and corporate celebrations for business clients became my daily routine. I travelled a lot in Poland at that time, expanding my area of operation beyond the borders of Silesia. There were also trips abroad.
I did thousands of reportages, smaller, full-day ones, at intimate or international events.
My working hours calmed down a little, as most of these collaborations were contracted in advance. There were occasional last-minute campaigns, but things started to calm down a bit.

I worked intensively and continuously with reportage until 2018. When I opened the Portrait Studio, the emphasis shifted to portraiture and stationary work at my location. I still occasionally do reportage work, but clearly portraiture has become my domain.

Architecture and interiors

My interest in architecture is a genetic thing. My parents were architects, so since childhood I have been accompanied by drawing boards, measuring tapes and conversations about buildings.
When I was still working in the press, I used to attend press conferences organised by the mayors of Katowice, in which they announced changes to the city, such as the demolition of the brutalist railway station.
In 2010, I received a scholarship from the Marshal of the Silesian Voivodeship in the field of culture, and with the help of my Dad, I started to travel around the cities of the conurbation, documenting post-war buildings, sculptures and mosaics.

It quickly became apparent to me that I would really benefit from a specialised lens for photographing architecture, which would improve the work and the quality of the images. So I bought the right equipment and, having finished the project, I decided that I could also do this architecture commercially.
This area of photography proved to be a break from the hustle and bustle of events and demanding portrait work. I have done the most commissions of commercial spaces and interiors such as open-space offices, shops, restaurants, all kinds of offices such as medical for example.
I still enjoy architecture and interiors photography and welcome such commissions, and which you can find in my portfolio – although not displayed in a separate gallery – in the SEE tab on my website: HERE.

Portrait

This is where I started my adventure with photography. And even though I spent years working in other areas of photography, I feel that I have come full circle and returned to my roots.
In press photography, the portrait is also present, of course. I call it a reportage portrait because, like other subjects in this field, it arises quite spontaneously.
When I started photographing for companies, there were also questions about whether I could do portraits of people associated with the organisation in addition to reportage. So I had bought studio equipment long before I opened my Portrait Studio.
I travelled to companies, arranged studio sets in them and did portraits.

Over time, I felt that my own place where I could meet entrepreneurs who don’t have their own offices would be very useful. I also felt that I wanted to organise my working time, slow down and create a comfortable environment for myself and my clients.
In June 2018, I opened my Portrait Studio in Katowice. It’s a completely new chapter, a lot has changed, it’s the moment when I put the most important emphasis on portrait photography. Of course, I remember when, being a photojournalist, I thought that the studio and working with studio light was boring and without the dynamics of the street I would fall asleep. But – to reiterate – a lot has changed.

I value the slow philosophy, calmness, one-on-one contact with the person being photographed, I enjoy listening to the stories of my guests and having coffee with them. I am invariably delighted by the variety of human faces and personalities I get to look at up close.

I specialise in business portraiture and create images for my clients’ websites, social media and printed materials. My personal projects are also grounded in portraiture.
I shoot in the studio or outdoors, digitally and analogue. I still develop negatives myself.
The line between commercial and personal is becoming increasingly blurred. My strength in commercial is becoming a very personal approach to how I interpret and create portraits.

I remember my dream from the early days of my photographic adventure, to make a living from art photography.
I have a feeling that I have fulfilled it.

———-

It is this December that the company I founded in 2006 celebrates its 18th birthday. And actually I’m celebrating this birthday, because in the case of a one-person business, combined with a personal brand and being an author, the company is me.
Over these eighteen years, I have accumulated a whole bagful of experience. My business has gone through several transformations, I’ve caught up with crises and doubts, and I’ve also enjoyed a huge number of successes.
In all this time, photography has been my only source of income. I don’t know if I can count how many people I have photographed, how many events and places.

Of course, a one-person business isn’t just – in my case – about photographing and post-processing. It’s also a huge amount of work: communicating and meeting clients, running the website, social media and the shop, writing the blog, running workshops, dealing with documentation (invoices, contracts, etc.), promo activities, strategy and trying to get away from the day-to-day to draw visions and plans. It’s also personal development, education, new competences.
And a whole bunch of crap, such as servicing my car (which is my work tool, after all), taking care of the studio or running to the parcel machine with a delivery. So it’s not just a crap.

To celebrate my anniversary, I have decided to write a series of texts about how I run my business, what difficulties I have encountered and what goes lightly. Where I get my inspiration from and where I look for answers. What values do I hold dear. What my typical working day looks like – do I even have such a thing as a typical working day. And I’ll probably catch a few more ideas in between. I’m not going to sugarcoat it, I’ve experienced some total fuck-ups 😉 Fortunately, moments of elation and happiness were more frequent.