When I started my business, there was no social media yet. There was Myspace, where a lot of artists had accounts, and it was mainly dedicated to musicians. So, I set up my account there. Anyone who remembers and has visited that space knows that Myspace was not very absorbing – more like a business card. At least, that’s how I remember it.

During the rise of the blogosphere, I also had my blog, and I was active on the Blogspot platform. I mainly uploaded photos, which acted as a kind of diary, with little or no text, possibly short descriptions to accompany the photos.

I remember that it took me a long time to get used to Facebook and even longer to get used to Instagram. I don’t remember when I set up an account on LinkedIn, but it was probably after those two. I also have a YouTube profile, mainly to make my three author project videos public. I’m not on other platforms.

At the moment, I find it hard to remember what it was like before the existence of social media. I can’t really recall an average day of my work without this virtual, engaging world.

Benefits – there certainly are.

I can see several benefits of being in the social media space that have impacted my professional life. Firstly, Facebook helped me to start writing more regularly. My posts became more substantive, even if just short. Over time, I started playing with writing, trying to somehow measure up to the juggling of words. I publish content that is shorter, sometimes longer, and occasionally I’m tempted to write more reflections or impressions. Nevertheless, this regular training made me feel the need to develop this skill, so I decided to start a blog again. This time, I write first and foremost, with photos more often serving as decoration.
I have also been writing privately for over 2.5 years now, which is taking an increasingly structured form.

Secondly, publishing posts has forced me to document my work. I’ve started taking behind-the-scenes, commemorative photos, which are a nice touch to the collaboration but also serve as a chronicle of my meetings. It’s always nice when we, satisfied, stand up to take a photo together after a photo shoot.

Thirdly, publishing on social media gives credibility to my professional activity. Admittedly, I take care of my website, and since I’ve been blogging, new texts have been arriving regularly. But social media are much more relational and help increase visibility. I know that often, potential clients, just before getting in touch with me, look me up online and analyze how I work.

Do I earn more through social media? Yes. Some clients decide to work with me thanks to the fact that they met me in the social media space, usually through mutual friends. They observe my activities, and this convinces them to book a photo shoot with me.

I am not the influencer type, and I am unlikely to ever be. Analyzing the dark side of virtual social media life, I find answers to why I won’t become one.

The shadows – there definitely are.

Algorithm. Do I want an algorithm to decide whether my content reaches the people I should be interacting with? Do I want the algorithm to popularize and serve me crappy content with no value and no substance? Do I want to take part in this mealy-mouthed game of shouting and pimping? No.

When, once again, the rules of the social media game change and, in order for our content to have a chance of reaching the people watching us, we have to start doing this and that differently, I also say no.

I try to run my channels in such a way that I don’t overstep myself in doing so. I just want to be OK with myself. So, there are things that I do and find pleasure in, and there are things that I won’t convince myself to do. So, you’re not going to hear a protracted ‘hello, lover’ from me on a live show about nothing. I’m not going to create dorky videos with scenes because just talking about things isn’t enough anymore. I also don’t mess around with reels (which I don’t actually do, except for a short photo slideshow) with loud disco music. I add birdsong in the background, because that’s how I prefer it. I heard once that this is boring. So, maybe I’m boring.

I value calmness and a certain balance. Clients find that in my studio. They can slow down, catch their breath, have a coffee, and focus on what we have to do. Music plays in the background without drowning out our conversations. I create portraits in stillness, a certain harmony that allows me to catch those fleeting subtleties that flow between me and the person being photographed. Part of the reason my clients are able to master the stress and anxiety of being photographed is because I create these conditions for our collaboration.

Anyone who has seen me working with a larger group of people knows that I lose my temper and everything flies out of my hands if there is a lot of commotion on set and loud conversations drown out my communication with the subject. I then ask people to behave more quietly because I can’t concentrate and my nervous system starts to glow red. The same thing happens outside of work, in my other activities. So, supposedly, why should I construct shouted messages in social media? After all, it’s not me.

Rather, I haven’t followed trends. I develop as a photographer based on how I feel about the other human being. I’m closer to the classics than to a pack of trendy presets; I don’t know how to take photos in a style that fits Instagram. I value quality and reliability, so unpopular these days.

I recently had a conversation with a writer who told me the story of the publication of her first book. At the same time, the publisher was publishing a book by some YouTube guy with quite a social media reach. They invested in him – promotion, photo shoots, etc. The writer didn’t receive that kind of support because she wasn’t anyone famous. The punchline is interesting. The sales of the book were at a very similar level, and the YouTube guy with big reach sold not much more.

So, there is a battle for reach and the number of followers, at any cost. And I will not pay that price. I will not forcefully stir up controversy, show my intimacy, flaunt my naked body (I allow nudity when it is related to the personal projects I create). Ah, opinions. You can rest assured that the opinions my clients have written on the Google business card are real. I didn’t buy them.

With all the awareness of what the world of social media is like and how easy it is to fall into a scrolling reel, I fell into it myself. For years, I started my day with social media apps. It’s bloody hard to fight this habit. I have trouble concentrating, I feel overstimulated, and I sometimes succumb to the feeling that everyone else is doing so great, but I’m just so ordinary.

So, I try to focus social media on two things. I publish texts and photos relating to my work (and sometimes hobbies), and I support people I like and/or whose content I value. I’m slowly trying to unglue myself from the screen – although yes, videos with cats are always fun 😉 But I’ll quit that too eventually.

Is running my business easier since there’s social media?
I don’t know. When I started using them, my business was already over 10 years old. There are businesses based only on such platforms, but mine is not one of them. They have certainly made a few things easier for me. After all, it is easier to reach potential customers and gain their trust. Social media have also forced me to rethink self-presentation and can support image building and personal branding.

But I also feel that it is necessary to make running a business independent of social media platforms. This means that it is obligatory for me to have my own place online. The basis is a website where I can publish whatever I want (within the limits of general social norms, of course), and I don’t have to, for example, blur my nipples in a photo that is obviously not pornography but an artistic nude. For this reason, I have also set up a blog on my site so that I can write texts without worrying that the algorithm will pick up a forbidden word and block my account. I can also link without fear of having my reach curtailed for taking people outside the platform. There will also be a newsletter – not to bombard you with sales offers—but mainly to keep in touch in case one platform or the other closes down, or the rules of participation are no longer acceptable to me.

I value consistency. I rather can’t do otherwise. I am not good at pretending, artificially raising the stakes, or playing people off like pawns on a game board. I talk about my professional life a lot in public (this series of texts contributes to that), but I leave a lot of my private life to myself. I do not shout. I do not exhort. I don’t push. That’s how I choose to do it, which is completely out of step with the trends. So what. I’ll get through it somehow.

—-

You can find the texts in this series under the ‘I have a company‘ category. Or click the tag: 18.

It is this December (2024) 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.

This will be my personal analysis, based on 18 years of experience running my one-person business. While it may have some universal appeal, I assume that every entrepreneur, even in the same industry, has their own unique experience.

I’d be lying if I said that all 18 years of freelancing were great. I’m far from pretending that everything was always perfect. In fact, anyone who runs a business—regardless of its size and structure—knows that things can be unpredictable.

The simple division into advantages and disadvantages is rather conventional. However, the reality is more nuanced. What may be a disadvantage now can cease to be one over time. Over the course of these 18 years, there are areas that have clearly caused me difficulty, or sometimes even felt like a burden (or as we now like to say, a “challenge”). On the other hand, there are aspects of the freelance life that I value above all else.

So, I’ll highlight the positives where I’ve done well and the negatives where I’ve struggled.

DISADVANTAGES

Solitude of the solo entrepreneur.

I do work with people, but these are typically task-based interactions, such as photo shoots. When I talk about loneliness, I mean the time spent working on the planning and strategy of the business—the things that are often invisible to others. Without me, nothing happens.
There are moments when the knowledge that everything rests on my shoulders becomes overwhelming. This is when fatigue or even burnout sets in. There have been times when I’ve felt stuck, unable to find solutions or muster the energy to move forward. Where do you draw from when you run out of strength, energy, or knowledge?

There are several ways to cope, and I make use of them. I draw knowledge from podcasts, books, and lectures. I can also arrange consultations with a business mentor to work on what’s not working. There’s also a helpful form called a mastermind group, where a small group of entrepreneurs work together to grow their businesses. Or, I can attend various networking events for business owners.
(I’ll write separately about where I go, what I listen to, and what I read to find support.)

So, there are ways to prevent loneliness, but perhaps the most valuable are deep relationships— even friendships—based on similar business experiences. Having someone like that by your side is priceless.

Lack of predictability in orders.

I’ve found that the phenomenon of a ‘regular client’ is extremely rare. Of course, there are times when I work with companies for longer periods, but this doesn’t guarantee consistent cooperation or that it will last for years.

Let me start with the frequency of assignments. When I worked primarily as a reporter, I serviced companies that more or less frequently organized or participated in events—conferences, meetings, trade fairs. Sometimes, I would work with a company several times a month. This predictable rhythm made it easier to anticipate the upcoming weeks.

In portrait photography, the rhythm is different—much less frequent. There are companies I work with for portrait sessions of new team members, but this is typically on a quarterly or semi-annual basis, and the assignments tend to be smaller.
A brand new portrait session might only happen every year, two years, or even three years.
So, every month, I need to attract completely new clients.

Also, it’s unwise to assume that the clients you have now will be there forever. It’s best not to get too attached to the idea of a ‘regular client.’ Why? It’s easy to lose orders in this industry.
All it takes is a change in the marketing department, and the new management may bring in their own contacts. Suddenly, you’re out of business.
(There’s a flip side to this, though—I’ve also followed clients to their new roles, so it works both ways.)

In portrait photography, clients may want to experiment with different styles, so they might work with other photographers to benefit from varying perspectives and techniques.

Photography is often considered a luxury service. When a company starts cutting costs, photography services are often the first to go.

One particularly unpleasant situation occurs when, after years of regular cooperation, a client switches photographers without a word of farewell. Unfortunately, I’ve experienced this. So even a (supposed) good relationship doesn’t guarantee anything.
But perhaps the most egregious—dare I say, exceptionally nasty—situation is when a fellow photographer, a friend even, approaches your client and offers their services, taking your work away from you. Sadly, I can confirm that I’ve experienced this as well.

Inability to scale the service.

My capacity is limited. I can only take on as much as I can fit into the time I allocate for work. I’ve learned to respect my leisure time—no more working evenings, weekends, or holidays. I try not to exceed my full-time working hours.

Years ago, I made the decision to focus on being an author, creating my work personally, and developing my personal brand. This means I don’t hire another photographer to take portraits for me. While this has its advantages, it also means I can only take on a certain number of portrait sessions, which affects my income.
That’s why I don’t negotiate my prices—I’d have to work more for less. Instead, I’ve structured my pricing so clients can choose different levels of service, from a quick session for a single portrait to a full-day session with multiple shots.

There are other ways to scale a business—such as creating online products based on my knowledge and experience, or selling physical products—but with portrait photography, scaling isn’t possible. This is why diversifying your revenue streams is essential. Relying on just one source of income can lead to a ‘no work, no pay’ situation.

Tax burden.

Every solo entrepreneur in Poland, especially those in the craft-based industries or running micro-businesses, knows how disproportionate the tax burden can feel. I’ve experienced this during the lean months when costs eat into my income.
There are more favorable tax systems than Poland’s, and probably worse ones too. But I live here, and I have no influence on the system. It’s frustrating at times when I consider how inadequate the self-employment model feels.

There’s a meme online that says: ‘To prepare for his role as a mental patient, Joaquin Phoenix registered a company in Poland for a few months.’ 😉

BENEFITS

Organizing my time as I wish.

I love this! Each of my days can look a little different. If I have a session, I work the hours agreed with the client. If I don’t have a session, I operate based on the number of commitments related to preparing photos for clients and other professional tasks.
I’m good at organizing myself, so I handle a variety of tasks without struggling. There’s an element of self-discipline, but I also listen to my flow. If I’m focused and productive, I work at full speed. If I’m tired, I take a break—go for a run, have lunch, or decide to finish for the day, knowing I wouldn’t be able to focus effectively.
Sometimes, I take a day off during the week, like going to the mountains.

I don’t make a note of the seasonality of my work, so I don’t face long periods without assignments. Some months are intense, while others are quieter. When it’s quiet, I tackle items from my ‘to-do’ list or write blog posts. I like the variability.

I don’t think I could ever go back to a traditional full-time job. I’m much more suited to independent project work. I enjoy the multitasking, the movement, and also the comfort and focus of working at my monitor.

A sense of freedom in decision-making.

I admit, a strict structure isn’t for me. Knowing that I am in charge of myself and can make my own decisions is a model I feel comfortable with.
Of course, it has its downsides—such as the loneliness of being a solo entrepreneur—but overall, I see unfettered decision-making as an advantage.

Sense of empowerment.

It’s a rewarding feeling to know I can accomplish anything I set my mind to. I’m demanding of myself, more so than many bosses or managers would be.
I’ve learned to take responsibility for myself, not blaming others. If I fail at something, I learn from it and move on. I’ve come to see this journey as an adventure, a chance to change and grow. That’s what happens when your work is driven by passion. I wouldn’t want to spend eight hours a day in a job I don’t enjoy.

The ability to choose assignments and clients.

I’m fortunate to work with clients I’m on good terms with. It’s rare for me to meet someone who feels like they’re from a completely different world.
My ‘blacklist’ of clients is short—only a few companies have made it on there, mostly those who dragged out payments indefinitely. In a few cases, there were severe misunderstandings and we completely diverged in our expectations. However, these situations are rare, and I haven’t had such issues in recent years.
I’m also aware that I don’t have to work with everyone. I can choose not to enter into a partnership if I feel something isn’t right.

I’ve focused on portraiture, even though I have experience in other fields—such as reportage, architecture, and interior photography. Portraiture is what resonates with me most, and it’s what I want to continue developing. While I occasionally make exceptions, my focus remains firmly on portrait photography. That’s a decision I’ve made.

Personal brand development and recognition brings many surprises.

Over time, I’ve become recognized as a specialist in what I do. Portraiture, for me, is not just about the photographs but also the human relationship. I’m particularly interested in the topic of self-acceptance and view people more deeply. I’m also involved in the arts and culture scene.
This has led to invitations to speak at events, participate in discussions, and contribute to the press, internet, and radio. I always happily accept these invitations.

As I celebrate my 18th anniversary, it’s a time for reflection. Not only on my current professional life but also on the journey ahead—an adventure that, I’m sure, will bring many more changes and surprises.

I have a lot going on at the moment, I am processing a lot, and changes are bound to come, because they are already happening. It is difficult for me to clearly define what shape will emerge from these changes. Maybe diametrically different from the present, maybe only slightly altered.

—-

You can find the texts in this series under the ‘I have a company‘ category. Or click the tag: 18.

It is this December (2024) 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.

It is difficult for me to imagine working with people and building good relationships without values in the background.
I have been in business for 18 years and over this time I have developed certain standards not only for my own comfort at work, but above all for the comfort of my clients.

Transparency

Very important for me. My business is definitely not a bogus company. You’ll find a packet of information about me online – opinions of my clients, a bio on my website, several interviews, you can view my portfolio, I run social media. And in direct contact, when you are considering shooting with me, you will find out how I work and how much you will be charged for it (specifically, not ‘somehow we will make a deal’).

Trust

Most people have trouble being in front of the camera and posing for pictures. They feel uncomfortable, embarrassed, tense. A confidence boost at the beginning of our collaboration makes things a lot easier. But how do I get it if we don’t know each other? The first impression from what you see online and, above all, a phone call or meeting before the session is a good start. Transparency will help here.
I don’t cheat, I don’t scam, I don’t postpone, I don’t lie, I don’t disappear. When I make an appointment for something, I do it. I have no hidden costs, no „little letters” in the contract, I won’t use a photograph of you unless you give me permission.
Honesty and openness – without that, trust won’t appear.
I’m a fan of ‘clear rules of the game’.

Timeliness

If something unexpected happens which makes it impossible for me to work – I’ll inform about it. Although I’m relieved to admit that fate has spared me such situations.
I’m always realistic about when I’ll prepare the photos, the deadlines are specified in the contract, I often accelerate if I’m able. I won’t promise something I won’t be able to deliver.

A separate elaboration could be written about timely payments for work. When I was working mainly on reportage, I used to send the finished material together with the invoice, i.e. a few hours/days after the event. It’s a well-known fact that reportage usually hits the news, social media and is a record of current events, so it needs to be sent quickly.
There have been times when I’ve lost liquidity due to unpaid invoices. Or I had to pay taxes on amounts I didn’t yet have in my account. This was very frustrating, especially as it sometimes caused me to fall behind with some fees myself if I didn’t have a large enough financial cushion.
Since I’ve focused on portraiture, I send out finished photographs as soon as the invoice is paid. Clients know what they are going to get, they have accepted the portraits before the document is issued, they will use the portraits the moment we have our financial affairs settled.
The situations where I had to call and ask when I would have my fee in my account are for the most part over.

Punctuality

There’s basically nothing much to write about here, the thing is clear as day. Being late can disorganise a session – portraiture in a hurry is not a good idea – or make it impossible if it’s a short shooting. Yes I know, it can happen, the world won’t collapse, but I wouldn’t like to experience a situation where you’ve been standing outside my Studio door for half an hour waiting for me to arrive late.

But I have observed the opposite, which notoriously has been happening to me recently.
Very often, clients with whom I have an appointment at a certain time come… too early. Half an hour, forty minutes early. Each time, I am perplexed. I take it in stride and it’s time to communicate more clearly how things are going.

Often my schedule is filled to the brim. If I have a phone appointment with a client at 12.30pm and a client I’ve been working with since 1pm arrives half an hour early, I won’t make that phone call and set up what was supposed to be agreed.

My Portrait Studio is an intimate space. In one room I photograph, in the other clients can change clothes and leave their personal belongings. There is no possibility of a stranger in this space waiting.

I work not only in my Studio. So if you arrive early, you might just not find me yet.

Quality

I don’t like sloppiness and shoddiness. Sometimes clients say: but I just need here to cycle twice and you don’t have to do post-production. Well I don’t find myself in that situation. Whether I prepare one portrait or thirty, I always take the same care about quality. The quality of the relationship and the quality of the product. And I guess that’s about it 🙂

The client our… partner

I’m paraphrasing the once popular slogan client our master. I believe in the first, not the second.
I am a specialist in what I do. So I try to combine what I know and can do with what you expect. If we don’t meet in this common ground, the collaboration will not go well.
I don’t do assignments by force if I know I can’t meet certain arrangements. I will recommend someone else. On the other hand, accept my portfolio, because the pictures we will create will not be different from what you can see in it.

When I go to my hairdresser, I know what I expect, but I don’t take the scissors out of her hand to do it myself. I have the memory, from years ago and thankfully the only one: I was taking a group photo at some event. Knowing the rules of correct framing, the correct perspective and proportions of human bodies, I crouched down a bit to take this photo. Seeing this, the head of the company, started shouting at me that it was wrong, not that way, that it would suck to take this photo, that I was too low and should get up immediately. Maybe if he had come up to me and say to me about his doubts in private, I would have had a chance to explain it to him. He boiled over in public, me inside. I did it my way, correctly. But that was my last collaboration with this company.

Have I avoided difficult situations in my collaboration with clients over the years? Clearly not. The longer I work, the better standards of cooperation I offer. I have learnt lessons, and one of the most important ones is that every time, for whatever reason – whether a desire to take a shortcut or pressure from the client – I have deviated from my values, there has been a problem or misunderstanding.

One thing is for sure: I won’t be able to please everyone. However, the truth is that I don’t want to work with everyone. I believe that clear communication — about what I’m doing and how I’m doing it — is the foundation and guarantee that, by finding common ground, we can come together and enjoy working with one another.

[photographs used in this post are backstage photos with my clients, taken during our session meetings. I love this part!]

—-

You can find the texts in this series under the ‘I have a company‘ category. Or click the tag: 18.

It is this December (2024) 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.

If I met myself today, the one from eighteen years ago, what would I say to myself then?

Nowicka, listen:

Do it your way – listen to your intuition.

You may be tempted to imitate others. I know, it’s hard to trust yourself when you’re at the beginning of the journey and many things you just don’t know. It’s good to learn from the experiences of others: to try, to test, to search, and eventually to find your own way.
But I stress: don’t imitate. Explore.

Forcing yourself to do something without conviction, without putting your heart into it, is rather pointless. Be on your own side. It’s important to know what you want, but also what you don’t want.

Draw knowledge from others, more experienced (from books, lectures, and podcasts), but filter this knowledge through yourself, your abilities, preferences, and likes.

Surround yourself with loved ones who support you.

Friends, family, professional acquaintances, other entrepreneurs. Who can you count on? The support of the people around you is very important, especially if you are a solo entrepreneur or a freelancer. When everything is on your shoulders, it’s easy to get crushed.
Have those close by who will come with a kind word, help, advise. They will listen, they are interested. They keep their fingers crossed, cheer you on, give likes like crazy, and truly see you.

Let go of relationships that drag you down, the people you can’t count on, those who are takers, never givers, from whom you’ve never heard words of appreciation. Let them be further away, never close.

Take care of your contacts.

Develop your network of contacts. Stay connected. It’s the kind of profession where you meet loads of people, so take advantage of that. And don’t be afraid to draw on them – communicate who and what you’re looking for.

Develop yourself not only in the profession you’re in, but also in the competencies related to managing what you do.

Talent is not enough. Running a business is not just about photography. It’s also about a whole lot of other skills. And since the realities of life are constantly changing, set yourself up for continuous learning. The sooner you get to grips with marketing, sales, image building, and personal branding, the better. Master the basics, get oriented so you know how to do things or what to delegate, and what to require.

Think about diversification and implement it.

Make money from photography, in the broadest sense. Taking photos is one thing, but also figure out how your knowledge and experience can translate into additional sources of income in the future. Over time, expand.

Have a financial cushion.

Then you’ll sleep more peacefully, and your stomach will hurt less.

Take care of rest and regeneration.

Remember that you have limited energy. You need rest, sleep, something completely different, a change of environment, and a hobby. Don’t neglect your days off and holidays. Sure, sometimes you need to do more and even push through, but let that be the exception, not the rule.
Mental well-being, the right mindset, and a fit body: look after yourself.

Reach out for help.

When you don’t know something, find someone who does. Someone who can point you in the right direction, give you advice, and help you. Not everything can be done alone. You don’t have to know everything.
There will be worse days, accumulating problems, and feelings of tiredness and burnout. It’s good to ask for support in solving your problems.

Intention and mission.

Do you know why you are doing this? Why for yourself and why for others? Find the answers.
This is important.

People need to experience, to make mistakes, to see what works and what doesn’t, and still, in the process, learn about themselves, solidify, or change their beliefs. I don’t know if I would have listened to this elder Nowicka. I hope so, at least to some extent.

____

You can find the texts in this series under the ‘I have a company‘ category. Or click the tag: 18.

It is this December (2024) 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.

As the opening guests arrived, I could feel the air thickening with the buildup of emotions. I’ve opened quite a few of my exhibitions before, but this one was going to be different.
Excitement and joy were mixed with a dose of the difficult emotions that the stories of the women I photographed bring, and with a profound sadness at the thought that Beata would no longer be with us.

Just before the opening, a woman approached me with her partner.
“Don’t you recognize me?”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t.”
Ela pointed to her portrait hanging nearby, from which a bald woman was staring.
“That’s me,” Ela confirmed.
She stood in front of me, smiling, her dark, long curls a storm of movement. Her partner kissed her on the temple and said:
“This is what we look like now.”

All my task-mindedness—manifested in the ability to keep my emotions in check when there is work to be done—melted away completely. My emotions took over, and I already knew I wouldn’t be able to hold them back much longer.
As soon as I began speaking at the exhibition opening, tears came to my eyes, and the words got stuck in my throat. And after the speeches… 🙂

The Portrait of a Woman (Portret Kobiety) exhibition is a beautiful summary of three editions of photo sessions for women experiencing oncology, held as part of the Art in the Service of Spirit and Body cycle, organized by the Art for Life Foundation, in the name of Marta Paradecka, with curatorial supervision by Monika Wachowicz.

Monika invited me to collaborate with her in 2021. She wanted the photo shoots to be part of a series she was organizing, alongside other events such as theatre performances, workshops, relaxation concerts, and yoga classes.
I’ve had the opportunity to be part of the event every year since then. I’ve conducted a total of four photo shoots (including the most recent one in September 2024), with 12 locations in each edition. The sessions take place in my Portrait Studio in Katowice, and the makeup is done by Anna Musioł.

I photograph in black and white, honoring the minimalism I like and appreciate. With this simple form, I focus on the character and personality of the person being portrayed, trying to reach something deeper.
These are unusual encounters. It’s all about being—having a good time, embarking on a fun adventure—although, of course, for some women, standing in front of the lens at this difficult time of illness or afterward, with a changed body, can be an act of courage. There is no single pattern here. There are women who enter the studio with aplomb, exposing their scars, uncovering their bald heads. And then there are those who try to overcome fear, shame, and embarrassment.
We drink coffee, eat biscuits, and talk—sometimes about the illness, sometimes not at all. We laugh, and sometimes we cry. It’s a good time, so fulfilling.

Each participant provides me with a quote or their own “words for life” to be placed under their portrait.
These words can offer guidance, support, and comfort. For example:

Dorota: “Life is just a journey! Therefore, live today! There may be no tomorrow.” — Charlie Chaplin

Ania: “Just don’t worry all day. Set an hour for it, and then enjoy life.” — Rev. Jan Kaczkowski

Paulina: Appreciate everything you have, believe in yourself, enjoy the moment… Be happy.

Basia: “Our life is what our thoughts have made it.” — Marcus Aurelius

Ania: What is important in life is life.

I print out the entire series of photographs, place them in a box, and give them to the participants on the closing day of the series, which traditionally ends with a theatre event—the monodrama In Suspense (W zawieszeniu) by Monika Wachowicz, directed by Arti Grabowski.

The first installment of the Portrait of a Woman exhibition took place at the Korez Theatre Gallery in Katowice in October and November 2024, presenting over 30 portraits of our heroines. Hopefully, we will soon be able to show the exhibition in other cities, adding the 12 most recent photographs from the latest edition of the cycle (2024).

This project also holds a personal significance for me. In 2010, my mum passed away, 10 years after being diagnosed with breast cancer.
There is a lot of talk these days about prevention—not just about regular check-ups, but also about prevention in a much broader sense. We now know how important lifestyle is: diet, maintaining good physical health, managing emotions, and working through traumas.

I dedicate Portrait of a Woman to my Mum.

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.

—-

You can find the texts in this series under the ‘I have a company‘ category. Or click the tag: 18.

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.

Most often I take photographs in my Portrait Studio in Katowice. Sometimes I arrange studio conditions at the client’s company if we need the context of interiors in the photos or the client cannot come to the studio.
I also occasionally shoot portraits outdoors, although I use the above options far more often.

The title question can actually be extended: studio, company, other interiors or outdoor?

In the studio, we gain independence from hardly predictable weather conditions: rain or snow, but also heat, high winds, frost, and grey days.
It is so here (in Poland? in Silesia?) that it is usually wet for half a year and the sun can be absent for weeks. In summer, on the other hand, we get run down from the heat.
This year (2024) such a situation happened to me. I was photographing the management and team of GRENKE in Warsaw. In the original concept, we had planned – in addition to shooting in the company using a neutral backdrop and the office space – to shoot on the streets of Warsaw as well. End of June, 30-degree heat… The air was already so hot from the morning that we abandoned this part, replacing it with more shots in the interiors. No one felt like facing the high temperature, the strong sun and the make-up running off.

In the studio, we also won’t be surprised by sudden renovations in a public space, cleaning work outside or cars parked in such a way that they obscure the background – because it matters, of course, what is behind the person being portrayed.
Usually clients want modern buildings, interesting spaces, sometimes – but much less often – greenery. We have interesting architecture in Silesia, but the most attractive is at the same time the most recognisable. Some perceive it as an advantage in the form of a strong identification with their place of business, others do not want to show themselves in popular spaces.

In a studio setting, we don’t have to worry about all that, we can concentrate on our work in peace. Does it mean that I don’t photograph outdoors at all?
It happens to me, but rarely.
Photographs outdoors gain a context – of urban hustle and bustle, architecture, nature, which complements the portrait with a story, shows the person in a certain reality, carries the style of the place. This is attractive, but can sometimes be difficult in realisation.
The best approach in this case is plan B. That is, if it turns out that conditions are not conducive, it is more convenient to move to the studio rather than postpone the session and look for another date.

Personally, I like urban space and its multi-planarity. I have the genes of architects (my parents designed), so I can handle the solids that form the background and blend them nicely with the character of the photo. I give the example of my personal project URBAN YOGA, which I realised a few years ago in downtown Katowice. Take a peek HERE if you feel like it.

But back to the topic. Sometimes clients ask me to use the interiors of public or private places. This is probably the most complicated option. It involves either a paid rental or creating portraits in an environment that we don’t have exclusive rights to. In the case of the latter, you have to take into account other clients e.g. in a café (they shouldn’t be in the photos) and the lack of freedom to build a set (so as not to disturb others).

As well as the comfort of creating them, studio portraits also bring greater versatility through the use of neutral backgrounds. Sometimes it’s difficult to predict the contexts of future publications, so this neutrality can be useful. It’s also very practical, especially if the make-up of the team changes and new people come in. It is then easy to take the same portrait, in the same studio conditions, maintaining continuity and consistency in the series. I work with more than a dozen companies in this way. After a large session and having photographed a dozen / several dozen people, this tabloid can easily be supplemented with new people.

The conditions I have in my Studio are fully under my control. That is, when setting up the light I know 100% what the effect will be, I can focus on the aesthetic nuances and details that build the atmosphere of the portrait. This is by far the most comfortable option for me when creating portraits.
This option is also appreciated by clients. They have calmness, intimacy and a good atmosphere with me. This is important especially when the photo shoot causes tension and discomfort.

There are also times when I am packing up my equipment, going to a client’s company. This happens when we want to have the context of the place in the photo. I use the furnishings: furniture, colours, glazing, I can use daylight and/or studio light.
The second case when I go to a company happens most often when there is a need to portray a very large team. Such a session is very dense, I have little time per person, the pace is fast, so it’s more efficient to do it at the client’s place.
But the location has to meet certain conditions in terms of the size of the room and its height so that I can arrange the background and light. I always check it beforehand and we agree where specifically we will set up the studio.

Reading this text, you might get the impression that I most enjoy working in my Portrait Studio. And probably it is true, nevertheless it is sometimes good to take photographs in other settings for variety.

This text is illustrated with portraits of the writer Anna Cieplak. I was commissioned by Wydawnictwo Literackie for the publication of her novel Rozpływaj się (Melting Up).
Some of the photographs were taken in my studio, one of which ended up on the cover of the book.
In the outdoor space, however, we worked on the dinosaur sculptures, which refer to a scene in the book.
While we were comfortable working in the studio, the outdoors gave us a bit of a hard time. The photos were created in a hurry, catching moments when it rained a little less… 🙂 Deadlines limited us so we couldn’t postpone the session to another day, so we accepted these conditions and focused on what we had to do.

If you would like to read other texts in this series, please click on the ‘business portrait shooting’ category or HERE.

The Katowice JazzArt Festival 2020 promised to be amazing. At the invitation of Martyna van Nieuwland / Katowice Miasto Ogrodów, I was supposed to move into the space of the sounds of jazz and make a series of portraits of the artists taking part in the festival. I called it Faces of JazzArt. It was a beautiful proposition, because I was able to realise the theme within the framework of my One People Story project, on film, with a medium-format analogue camera, consistent with the whole series I have been creating since 2012 (you can find information about the project HERE).

At the beginning of March 2020, there was a concert weekend called before and then.. we remember what happened. All concerts were cancelled and my project was put on hold.
Over the following months, whenever possible, intimate events were held as part of the festival or artists gave concerts to the exclusion of the public, in front of the camera. In both 2020 and 2021, the festival took place between lockdowns, in a reduced version.

In order to be able to realise the initial objectives of this collaboration, I adapted to the changed conditions and took some portraits in 2020 and some in 2021.

Among those who stood in front of my lens then were Mikołaj Trzaska, Macio Moretti, Joanna Duda, Morris Kliphuis, Pola Dwurnik and Christopher Dell. And it is this meeting with Christopher that I would like to mention.

In spring 2021, Christopher Dell comes to Katowice for an artist residency as part of the festival. He is a German musician, a vibraphonist, but also an urbanist. As part of his residency, he is to spend a few days in my city. The time is not easy, the public spaces are closed, but Christopher has his time filled to the brim. He explores the urban space, talks to architects, musicians and artists, and creates a solo improvisation. He also finds time to meet with me, so I have the chance to portray him.

The portraits in the One People Story series are created quite spontaneously. I arrange the photo set in response to a situation, a place, a character I have met. In Christopher’s case, I knew that I wanted his portrait to be created with Katowice in the background; after all, the context of the city for an urbanist is obvious.

We meet in a building on Sejm Śląski Square, so I suggest we go outside and find a suitable set in the area. At the last minute I take a stool. Christopher is a tall man and I don’t want to photograph him from my lower perspective 😉
We don’t look for a place for long, we put the stool at the corner of Ligonia and Sienkiewicza streets, I ask Christopher to sit down. For a while I set the parameters in the camera, measure the light, frame. After a while, I count to three… and it’s done.
Another portrait is created, but I prefer this one.

The same day or the next, we spend a pleasant time in my Portrait Studio, which has replaced a café to us. We drink coffee and talk together with a few people, enjoying this spontaneous meeting, at a time so unfavourable for meetings.

Some time later I develop the negatives, print this photograph on my favourite paper cardboard and send it to Berlin to Christopher. When I ask for an address to send the portrait – no, I don’t mean by email 😉 – I usually spring a surprise. And this time it is the same.

This is where the story could have ended, but another pleasant thing happened to me. More than a year later, I was contacted by the editor-in-chief of the German magazine JazzPodium. He wanted to publish Christopher’s portrait on the cover.
Among our arrangements, I was assured that the editors would make every effort to publish the photograph in its original frame, i.e. square. I was very keen on this. I treat each photograph in this series as a closed collection. This includes the frame, which is created by scanning a slightly larger area than just the frame of the photograph. I frame precisely when taking the photograph and do not crop it later.

My joy was great when this edition arrived from Germany. I think that keeping the full frame, arranging it on the cover and draping it in colour, looks great. The magazine was published in October 2022.

You know you need portraits to grow your brand and business, but completely clueless on how to go about it?
No problem. We’ll talk and everything will become clear.

An indispensable part of the cooperation is the creation of a concept for the shooting. Even if we are only talking about working on a single portrait. I need to know what your plans for publications are, whether the photos are to go on a website or be published in a trade magazine – the context is important. I ask about the company’s visual identity and branded graphic materials. But also about your style preferences and aesthetics. I want to know your vision and be sure that the style I work will suit you.

We can meet in person or online, talk on the phone, the important thing is that we discuss the details. Sometimes clients are surprised at how many questions I ask at this stage but, the better I understand what you need and what your expectations are, the more accurately I can convey this in the photographs.

I implement all the gathered information into the ideas for the photographs – the conversation stimulates my imagination, I replace words with images, so that at this stage I already propose specific solutions.
We build the scenario of the session, i.e. we plan the approximate final number of shots, we determine how they will differ from one another having at our disposal the light, the neutral background and its colours or the scenery of the place and, of course, the outfits, which can be more or less formal.

If I’m working with a team, we’re looking for a common denominator, a certain key that is visually shared by the whole team.

Photographs for business are meant to fulfil very specific tasks. To help you with your business and its development, to represent you in all kinds of publications, to carry a certain story that you want to convey to your audience.

So the work of preparing them should be precise. Of course, I also leave room for spontaneity during the shoot, and I’m open to ideas that come up at the photo creation stage. But certainly, good preparation will guarantee that the session time will be used to the full, effectively, and that the results will meet your expectations.

If you want to find more texts in this series, click on the CATEGORY “business portrait shooting” or HERE.

It is 2018 and Martin Fejer from the Est&Ost press agency writes to me and commissions me to take portraits of Szczepan Twardoch. The photos gonna be used as illustrations for an interview in the German newspaper Die Tageszeitung, on the occasion of the publication in Germany of the novel The King – with the German title Der Boxer. He also put me in touch with the journalist Philipp Fritz, who is to do this interview.

A few hours before the interview and shooting, I meet Philipp in Katowice and we start our collaboration with…. coffee. Philipp is German but speaks excellent Polish.
I take my companion to Gliwice, where we have an appointment with Szczepan Twardoch.
The journey is fun, to say the least. We drive in my car, hurtling down the road in total fog. It is January, but there is no snow. And I tell the story the whole way: we left Katowice, we enter Chorzów. We have passed Chorzów, we are passing through Świętochłowice. And now we’re in Ruda Śląska and we’re about to enter Zabrze. And then it’s on to Gliwice.
Philipp stared at the completely unchanging landscape – white milk. Once in a while he commented: yes, I believe the cities are there.

We meet Szczepan Twardoch in a restaurant outside the centre of Gliwice. We chat for a while to agree on a plan of action – first I will take photos, then the gentlemen will talk.

As is usually the case when making reportage portraits, many elements are unpredictable. It’s not always possible to plan a session like this in advance, you just find certain conditions and have to work out what to do. I was inspired by the fog and the landscape, which colour-wise turned out to be consistent with Szczepan’s outfit.
I took a few photographs changing the scenery slightly, but this is the one that finally made it to publication.

And working with Szczepan was very good – he was involved and patient, so I was still able to take an additional analogue portrait, for my One People Story project (about project HERE). As is my usual custom, when I have developed the negative and the photograph is ready, printed on beautiful matte cardboard, I want to give it to the portrait’s character. So, a few months later, I went to an author meeting and gave this photograph to Szczepan.

But back to the session in Gliwice: at the end, we took a backstage photo together, and some time later I received the information about the publication.

There is also an interesting thread about Martin Fejer – this was the second shooting I took for his agency, but we didn’t have the chance to meet in person until last year (2023). Martin lives in Budapest and on the occasion of my artist residency in Hungary we finally had the chance to see each other.

And Szczepan’s portrait brought with it another interesting surprise. A few months ago – six years after publication – I am found online by a client whose attention is caught by this photograph. The client likes the portrait so much that decides to offer me a collaboration.