(Polski, Ingles, Español)

Porque aprender cursos online y mejorar tu composición?

Aprender online es una tendencia que ha ido tomando fuerza desde ya unos años. No es nada nuevo que hoy aprender ingles de un profesor nativo que esta en su casa en Estados Unidos, de que tu profesora de fotografía es Annie Leibovitz que enseña fotografía a travez de varias plataformas en precios muy accesibles o que aprendes literatura en Harvard Online

Nuestra vida cada vez es mas rápida y poder estudiar online nos ahorra las horas de desplazamiento, horas en trafico o el coste de curso ya que cursos online son mucho mas baratos. Es un mecanismo muy efectivo de aprendizaje.

Hoy en día, no basta en acabar la universidad, encontrar el trabajo y ya dejar de estudiar. Tenemos la necesidad creciente de formarse y reinventarse de una forma continua. Debido al entorno, cada vez más cambiante, en el que vivimos.

Y como lo he dicho antes, tanto como puedes estudiar literatura, diseño, o economía, de la misma manera puedes estudiar fotografía.

Cuales son las ventajas de estudiar online? Aquí te dejo unas cosas positivas que te pueden convencer de estudiar online:

• La formación online es compatible con otras obligaciones
• Estudiar online es más económico
• Puedes perfeccionar tus conocimientos
• Tú marcas tu propio ritmo de estudio
• Puedes estudiar prácticamente cualquier cosa que te propongas

Ahora, durante la pandemia de COVID19, estamos encerrado en casa y donde mas tiempo pasamos es delante de nuestros ordenadores y nuestros móviles. Ya no tienes excusa de decir- “No tuve tiempo. Tuve que trabajar. Pierdo mucho tiempo en desplazarme. ” Ahora mas que nunca tienes la oportunidad de mejorar tus conocimientos, de aprender algo nuevo, de ser mas creativo, de salir de esta pandemia mas fortalecido, con mas habilidades, sabiendo mas, y siendo mejor fotógrafos.

Por eso, durante esta pandemia he recogido todo lo que sabia sobre la composición fotográfica, todo lo que he aprendido durante mi camino de fotografa y lo traslade a mi Curso de Composición Fotográfica.

Para crear este curso han sido muchas horas de trabajo duro y de esfuerzo. He aprendido y he descubierto hasta 4 programas diferentes de traducción, he recopilado todo sobre composición en fotografía para que TU no tengas que buscar y que tengas todas las reglas en un sitio donde puedas volver a verlo tantas veces que quieras.

Estoy muy feliz de poder compartirlo contigo! Ahora esta disponible en:

ingles

polaco

español

¡Después de ver el curso, sabrás mucho más sobre la composición y podrás utilizar las reglas efectivas que utilizan los fotógrafos más conocidos del mundo! Estoy muy feliz de tenerlo listo ya!!

Cual es mi objetivo: enseñarte paso a paso como mejorar tus fotografías, enseñarte cómo mirar el mundo como un fotógrafo y tu satisfacción con las fotos que tomas

Link para ver el curso y el contenido esta AQUI

(PL) Po co uczyć się z kursów online?

Nauka online to trend, który nabiera tempa od kilku lat. To nic nowego dzisiaj uczyć się angielskiego od rodzimego nauczyciela, który jest w Stanach Zjednoczonych, że twoim nauczycielem fotografii jest Annie Leibovitz, która uczy fotografii na różnych platformach w bardzo przystępnych cenach lub czy uczysz się literatury w Harward University

Nasze życie staje się coraz szybsze, a możliwość nauki online oszczędza nam godzin podróży, godzin w korkach lub kosztów kursu, ponieważ kursy online są znacznie tańsze. Jest to bardzo skuteczny mechanizm uczenia się.

Dziś nie wystarczy ukończyć studiów, znaleźć pracy i przestać się uczyć. Rośnie potrzeba ciągłego szkolenia i odnawiania się. Ze względu na coraz bardziej zmieniające się środowisko, w którym żyjemy.

I jak powiedziałam wcześniej, możesz studiować literaturę, projektowanie lub ekonomię, możesz również studiować fotografię w ten sam sposób.

Jakie są zalety nauki online? Oto kilka pozytywnych rzeczy, które mogą Cię przekonać do nauki online:

• Szkolenie online nie przeszkadza w innych obowiązkach
• Studia online są tańsze
• Możesz doskonalić swoje umiejętności
• Możesz ustawić własne tempo nauki
• Możesz uczyć się praktycznie wszystkiego

Teraz, podczas pandemii COVID19, jesteśmy zamknięci w domu, i większość czasu spędzamy przed naszymi komputerami i telefonami komórkowymi.

Nie masz już wymówki, by powiedzieć: „Nie miałem czasu. Musiałem pracować. Tracę dużo czasu na przejazdy.” Teraz bardziej niż kiedykolwiek masz okazję poszerzyć swoją wiedzę, nauczyć się czegoś nowego, być bardziej kreatywnym, wyjść z tej pandemii. silniejszy, posiadający więcej umiejętności oraz wiedzący.

Dlatego podczas tej pandemii zapisałan wszystko, co wiedziałem o kompozycji fotograficznej, wszystko, czego nauczyłam się podczas mojej kariery fotograficznej i stworzyłam Kurs Kompozycji Fotograficznej.

Stworzenie tego kursu zajęło wiele godzin ciężkiej pracy i dużo wysiłku. Nauczyłam się i odkryłam 4 różne programy tdo tłumacznia.

Zapisałam wszystko na temat kompozycji w fotografii, więc TY nie musisz szukać i masz wszystkie zasady w jednym miejscu, gdzie możesz to zobaczyć tyle razy, że chcesz.

Cieszę się, że mogę się z Tobą podzielić! Kurs jest dostępny w:

angielskim

polskim

hiszpańskim

Po obejrzeniu kursu dowiesz się znacznie więcej o kompozycji i będziesz mógł stosować skuteczne reguły stosowane przez najbardziej znanych fotografów na świecie!

Bardzo się cieszę, że kurs jest już gotowy !!

Mój cel: nauczę Cię krok po kroku, jak poprawiać swoje zdjęcia, nauczę Cię patrzeć na świat jako fotograf i sprawię że będziesz bardziej zadowolony/a z własnych zdjęć

Link, aby zobaczyć kurs i poznać treść TUTAJ

( ENG) Another goal achieved !!

Finally, I was able to translate the Photo Composition Course into 3 languages ​​!! Although I needed many hours of work and effort, I learned and discovered 4 different translation programs!

I am very happy to share it with you!

Course available in:

English

Polish

Spanish

After watching the course you will learn much more about composition and you will be able to apply effective rules used by the most famous photographers in the world!

I am very happy that the course is ready !!

My goal: I will teach you step by step how to improve your photos, I will teach you to look at the world as a photographer and you will become more satisfied with your own photos.

So Master Your Composition Today!

Link to see the course and the content, in HERE.

You can see my others blog posts HERE.

Today I would like to tell you about visual culture and why it is so important to see the work of other photographers, painters, musicians and artists.

What does the Visual Culture mean?

Visual Culture is a common concept in all those visual realities of any kind that affect humans. It is the world of images, especially artificial, that express and shape our way of thinking, living and loving.

It comes from the creation of aesthetics and art history although humans since prehistoric times already used images to tell their traditions, their lives and their important events.

Visual culture we can understand as painting, sculpture, architecture, design, music, and above all photography.

Why am I talking about that today? Because I think that every person who pretends to be a photographer … a good photographer… should have a well-developed visual culture.

Although we live surrounded by images, today more than ever, it is still difficult for us to recognize good art, good photo, or understand any art that we have in front of us.

When a person starts in photography, you can tell if this person has read, if he has seen the work of other photographers, if he goes to museums, if he sees the paintings, if he sees movies, if he goes to the theater … in short- Yes, you can recognize if his visual culture is broad or not.

When I started photographing, the first thing that crossed my mind was to see the work of other photographers and what kind of photos exist and have been taken. I can’t imagine being a photographer without seeing photographs of Alex Webb, Steve Mccurry, Robert Capa or Koudelka.

In the same way that I cannot imagine being a musician without knowing Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin or Metallica. If you want to be a writer, you need to learn the alphabet or read great books of Shakespeare, Orwell, or Tolkien. Simply, you need to soak up art because all these are exercises that sharpen our creative capacity.

Visual culture allows us to be more sensitive, helps us to better understand what we see, find the context for it, be more critical for our work and, above all, be a better photographer.

Sometimes looking at the work of a novice photographer, you see his way of making images, although not yet so perfect. It hides everything that he has seen, that he has read, that he has touched and everything that he has learned.

Today we live in the highly visual world where photography has a central place. Everyone has their little camera in their pocket and everyone can be called a “photographer”. But that does not mean that people view, use and critically produce visual content.

In order to competently participate in a vision-oriented society, we need to educate ourselves not to be visually illiterate.

Although many can take photos with their cameras, few have a solid visual culture. One could even say- it is rare.

If learning to see and read images correctly is important for everyone, imagine how important it is for people who are dedicated to photography. It’s crucial.

As much as practicing photography, knowing her history and the great photographers is important.

As Ansel Adams said “We do not take photographs solely with a camera: we bring to the photographic act all the books we have read, the films we have seen, the music we have listened to, the people we have loved.”

A rich intellectual life and a mind full of photographs that you have seen before produces images full of wealth. The inner poverty and mind that have no where to draw inspiration causes mediocre photographs.

A good photographer must nurture his mind, and inspire himself with the creativity of others.

For a long time I myself organized meetings with photographers where I presented photographers from now or from the past. The idea of ​​these meetings was to be inspired and to know pictures of others that in the future can serve as a source of inspiration. With that, what I wanted was to create a visual culture in others.

While writing this text, I would like to give you a photographer who is a example for me and whose images had big impact in how I photograph today. His is one of the best street photographers I know.

If you do street photography, but also if you do documentary photography, you simply cannot not know him. It is a pleasure to be able to introduce you to Alex Webb

American photographer from a Magnum agency. At the beginning he was black and white photographer but when in Mexico an Haiti he understood that the had to shoot in color to show the culture of this places.

Alex Webb is known for using layers in his photography and he uses a lot of elements in his photos. The main elements on his photos are the feeling of threat the desolation of the individual against the dynamism of the group, the play with colors or the play of shadows and lights.

“The way I photograph has to do with who I am, the way I see. And I’m trying to look at I perceive as the full complexity of a place or a situation. A full complexity of the world.”- Alex Webb

If you want to see a very interesting interview with Alex Webb, you can check it HERE

If you want to see my other blog posts you can check them HERE

I present you my newest interview about my documentary project from Uganda “Children of God”

“What I like most is showing human stories” Those word I said yesterday when talking with Ilona. Yesterday I had the pleasure to be a guest of Ilona in the Szczypta Luksusu.

Our conversation concerned my documentary project “Children of God” which I did in Uganda. In Uganda I spent 7 months during which I worked at school and photographed street children to draw attention to this important, and I have the impression, forgotten issue.

I did the project because I thought it was a story that many people don’t notice, including the people of Uganda.

Also we talked about the religion in Africa, about traveling alone and about courage.

Instead of telling big stories, I invite you to read. For those who would like to read the original interview, I invite you to go to this website where it is in Polish.

Photography is just a tool to show the lives of others

Aleksandra Dynaś, a photographer, tells us behind the scenes of her career path and tells about the reportage “Children of God” about children from Uganda, and also she explains why Indians want to die over Ganges.

Ilona Adamska: Traveling was your biggest passion from an early age. I know you travel alone since you were 15 years old. Tell me more!

Aleksandra Dynaś: Traveling is my greatest passion. When I was 6 years old, my mother came up with a great idea to send me to a 3-week camp. It wasn’t easy, but somehow I survived. Later I traveled with my parents who took me to various distant corners of the world. When I was 15-16, my parents sent me to a language school in Spain so that I could learn Spanish better.

I spent over a month in a small town in Andalusia. I liked this experience so much that later I tried to repeat it and I started to go to distant countries myself. But I think that at the very beginning it was the idea of ​​my parents and they pushed me to leave the world.

Photography started few years ago. You deal with documentary and reportage photography as well as social topics. Why do you do exactly a reportage?

It seems to me that reportage, documentary and travel photography in some sense suits my personality best. When I started studying photography, the first course I went on was a reportage photography course. So called photojournalism. I didn’t know the basics yet, and I went to a course that taught how to tell stories, show social problems, injustices or stories of people.

I just like people, I like talking to them, I like to learn about their lives and learn things from them. I’m curious. From a child. Therefore, when I became interested in photography, it somehow naturally pushed me to tell stories. Actually, photography is just a tool to show the lives of others. My nature, what I believe and my values, did not really play with fashion photography, food or interior photography or children.

I do not agree with the direction in which the world is going and I want to draw people’s attention to things that are important. Things that are more important than ourselves. We live in a global world. We are all connected.

You lived in Uganda for 7 months, where you worked with street children, most often suffering from AIDS. How do you remember this rather difficult time?

I will explain that the children were not suffering from AIDS. At least not all of them. So it is better to say that I worked with street children. I chose this topic myself. I began to document how the children live the street live and why they are there. It was also the topic that touched me the most. I thought it was a needed project and a story to tell, so how I felt myself didn’t matter much.

Of course, it’s not easy to look at the situations of these kids, but the more it scared me, the more I felt I was doing the right thing and the more I wanted to get to know the whole problem as best I could. If someone decides to go to Uganda and document certain topics, then they have to be aware that not everything will be beautiful.

But the desire to highlight certain topics and talk about difficult things is an inseparable part of a photojournalist or documentary photography.

As a believer, I was intrigued by your project called “Children of God”, which was presented not only in Poland but also in Spain. Could you tell something more about him?

The documentary “Children of God” is a project that I did in Uganda about the lives of children on the street. In Kampala, the capital of Uganda, there are more than 10,000 children on the street. They found themselves there because of domestic violence, poverty, sexual violence, and psychological violence. Some are orphans because their parents died of AIDS. Some fled the house, hoping to find a better life in Kampala.

I spent three months in Kampala slums, being with adults and children. Children who live on the street are only an effect. Some of those children have no choice but to run away from home.

I called it the Children of God reportage because most of these children are very religious and despite living on the street, many of them still go to church and pray in the hope that God will help them.

However, without the help of local organizations, government, international NGOs, unfortunately many of them will remain on the street. I’m showing this project in Poland and Spain and speaking of it, I’m also trying to raise money for a trusted organization that deals with helping these kids.

What does faith and God look like in Africa?

I can’t talk about the whole of Africa, because I haven’t visited all of it, but in Uganda, where I had the opportunity to be big, faith in God is very strong. Sunday is holy, women put on their most beautiful dresses and go to church, where the mass is very lively. People clap, sing, pray together. This is a very important day. In Uganda, there are 84% of Christians and about 14% of Muslims.

I remember one day when I was going to church with the family I lived with. I put on ordinary shoes, sneakers. When they saw that I wanted to go to church in these shoes, they asked if I had better shoes. So I had to change my sneakers for more elegant shoes. Religion is very important in Uganda.

In Uganda, even before Christians arrived in Africa, people had their traditional beliefs. Their prayers were based on singing, dancing, beating drums and a very active form of prayer.

Therefore, now, despite the fact that many people profess the Christian faith, the way of praying is still based on traditional forms of talking with God. Ugandan Mass can be carried away to a large party organized in the church. It is a very beautiful moment and worth seeing.

Ugandans dress their most beautiful dresses because of respect for God. Dance and drums are natural for Africa, for their culture and traditions. Each mass is adapted to the culture in which it is conducted, which is why our Polish mass is so different from the African.

You photographed people who want to die in Varanasi because they think that only by dying there will they be saved.

Some time ago I came back from India, where I was for 6 months. I worked there on two topics: death and tuberculosis. When it comes to death, I wanted to find out why people specially come to Varanasi to die.

Varanasi is considered one of the holy cities of Hinduism. The old name of the city of Kashi means that Varanasi is a “place of spiritual luminance.”

Varanasi is not only a place of pilgrimage, but also a great learning center and a place known for its heritage in the fields of music, literature, arts and crafts and there is also one of the most famous universities.

The Ganges River also flows through Varanasi in the opposite direction. Legend says that god Shiva and his wife Parvati were there when time began to run. Hindus believe that bathing in the Ganges is a deliverance from sin and an achievement of nirvana, and that death on the banks of the Ganges is a guarantee of heavenly bliss and freeing oneself from the eternal cycle of birth and death, i.e., Samsara.

People want to die there because the process of reincarnation and earthly life is considered a punishment. I had access to people who come and wait to die in special homes. It is almost a mystical experience. I recommend everyone who ever visit India to visit Varanasi, because there are few places on earth that have such energy. I was there a month, but I would definitely stay longer.

By touching so many human tragedies, do you believe that in the world is finally winning the good? Do such experiences and adventures somehow shape your faith?

Unfortunately, I don’t think life is an American film where good always wins. Life is more complex. Unfortunately, there is a lot of injustice and evil in the world, because if good always won, there would still be no wars, hunger, rape or poverty.

Everyone would live in prosperity. I believe in good people and willingness to help. That in the face of crises many people can unite and be in solidarity. In my opinion, the world is good, people are good and there is more good than evil in the world. At least I want to believe it. And the people I meet often confirm that.

I think it’s hard to think about something final. The world is not ending and it probably won’t end soon. Throughout human history, peace has been understood as a temporary lack of war. In today’s world, peace means no likelihood of war. We’ve probably never lived so well before.

More people die because of obesity than because of hunger, war kills fewer people than diabetes and having a nuclear bomb protects the world from war. Now war as we know it from the past does not pay off and we live in a world of many non-fired projectiles and non-fired bombs.

However, if we decide to go back to it – it will be only our own fault and not some destiny or magical causative power in which evil wins.

Thanks to communing with many cultures, dealing with many faiths, I am increasingly asking myself questions about the existence of God, about energy, and what is the meaning in all of this.

And whether it is at all. Maybe life is just life. And only man gives the meaning. What is the meaning of death and why do we live? The more I travel, the more I realize how little I know.

The world is so complex that something is not always black or white. Traveling helps me understand that you can’t see things as they are at first glance.

What does photography give you? What do you like most about your job?

I like showing human stories the most. Real personal stories. Because it allows me to learn more about man, about humanity, about who we are, what unites us and what divides us.

I like to show the world in the way I see it. Photography teaches me to see more, to observe the world, to view the world as something complex and about how a person is perceived in space.

How he finds himself in the world around him. It also allows me to reach places that I would not otherwise reach, and to meet people I would not have met. To get off the tourist path and to get to know the personal places.

For me, photography is just a tool. I love to tell other people’s stories and learn from them. Probably the people I meet contribute more to my life than I have brought in. And I thank them for showing their life.

I think that today’s world is not Instagram, not Facebook, not social media. It is a created world that does not exist and which we are improving on our own need. To satisfy your ego. When I have the opportunity to interact with people from other cultures, in situations where someone dies or suffers, or is on the verge of life and death, all masks disappear.

You show your sensitivity. And that’s OK. You can pretend happiness. Suffering is real. Maybe that’s why I’m looking for difficult situations. To experience real emotions.

You are often invited to various types of incentive conferences for women. What do you talk about during your speeches? What do you want to encourage women to do?

In my speeches I talk about what I do, about my projects, mainly I show pictures. But also through my experience I try to inspire women not to be afraid of going on a lonely journey, that they are not afraid of challenges, that they do what they want.

Society imposes certain standards on us, which it seems we should meet. Go to college, get married, have children. Work 40 hours a week. Leave for two weeks vacation. Over and over again.

I believe that this is only one scenario, one option. Women have been brought up since they were young: “don’t do it, don’t jump, don’t climb, because you will fall. Don’t go because something will happen to you. Don’t try because it’s too hard.”

Our genes, our education, where we were born and what parents we had influence us. Little girls are often raised in fear. Not in courage. But it’s courage and confidence that when you fall, you can get up, they are most needed in life. Because life will be difficult and from an early age you must learn to believe in yourself, in your strength and that you will manage.

I want to show women that they are enough and that courage can be learned. But you have to take a small step. Every day I meet women who could do anything if they would like and dare. I want to show women that making dreams come true is damn difficult, but it’s also worth trying.

Why do you love your life today?

For the opportunity to grow, learn from others, experience so many amazing adventures, do what I love, meet so many wonderful people. For experiencing life with its bad and good emotions. For fulfilling myself in what I consider important and right.

For the opportunity to tell the world through photography. For the good that meets me. For the opportunities I have. For sharing my experiences with others and showing that I can, you also can. That it’s worth it. That you have to try. I think my life is beautiful.

What would you like to say to our readers?

I wish them courage. I wish they weren’t afraid of difficult things, because if they fall, it will be a lesson for the future. And perseverance in making dreams come true. Because it is a difficult, tedious and long way that requires a lot of work. Whether someone fulfills what he dreams about does not depend on how much he wants it. This depends on how much you can sacrifice to achieve it. Therefore, choose your struggle wisely.

If you enjoy my content and if you want to know more about my photography and why I take pictures they way I take them check it in HERE

Benares 2018.

Probably there is no place that would not be photographed throughout the city and above all – on the Ganges river.

Thousands of tourists who visit the holy city of Hindus every year, every month, every day … at every hour.

Tourists from all over the world come to Varanasi in search of mystical experiences, photos of Sadhu or an unforgettable boat ride over the Ganges.

Photographers are looking for pictures that will become the next World Press Photo, and if not, they’ll be happy to win a local competition in the nearest Cultural Center.

However, ! What a disappointment! When you upload your new brand photo from India to Instagram, You will see that under the hashtag #sadhu there are already 142 000 photos similar to yours. Well … you’re not original. Deal with it!

In a world so connected, where traveling by plane to another country can be cheaper than traveling by train to the city next door, and where anyone can become a travel blogger, it is increasingly difficult to be original and show a world we would not have seen before.

Therefore, it is worth getting up at 6, drag out of a warm bed and go out to look for a photo that will not only reflect reality but your own way of seeing the world.

That photo is probably the result of a few days of walking over the Ganges and looking for moments and compositions that could reflect what I saw there.

Why this photo? Because it has depth, because it shows a man the way he is, because it is an honor for the human body, because he shows life.

Probably some would say that it shows death. Striped shorts, body position, extreme thinness … bones. How much this photo resembles thousands of other photos that we have seen so many times from concentration camps. From Auschwitz.

However, the idea of ​​the photo was not to show or recall the effects of World War II.
I took this picture, at 7am on the Ganges because I wanted to show the morning ritual of many Hindus.

Hindus believe that bathing in the river causes the remission of the sins. Pilgrims inmerse the ashes of their kin in the Ganges, which is considered by them to bring the spirits closer to moksha. Every day people come to the gaths to take bath, do the ceremonty for the Shiva God or to pray.

Because it has depth, because it shows a man the way he is, because it is an honor for the human body, because it shows life.

Being there, I had the impression that I was participating in something special, something personal, even intimate. I had the impression that I should not be there, I should not participate in anything as important as personal prayer.

However… I was. And I photographed. And I tried to be as discreet as possible, unnoticeable. I went down the stairs, as slowly as I could, to get close to what I wanted to capture in my frame.

When the bathers nodded their heads, as a sign that they agree with my presence there, and that they didn’t mind me taking photos of them, I breathed a sigh of relief.

I do not like to enter anyone’s life with shoes and “steal his soul” and seal it in a small plastic box that is the camera.

I don’t know why, but photographers, especially people who do documentary photography, they have this need to photograph what is vulnerable, what is ephemeral.

The need to close the moment in the frame. I do not know why. Maybe because photographing intimate and personal moments allows us to be part of something real for a moment. Something bigger than ourselves.

In the world of social media, Instagram, showing bare ass and artificial boobs, we don’t have many opportunities to experience who we really are. Even happiness can be feigned in the “consumer society”.

However, there are places, there are situations and there are moments that allow you to be yourself. Without unnecessary masks that we put on every day.

For me, one of those moments was there… watching the Indians bath in the Ganges at 7 am in Varanasi.

Despite the cold, cold water they were there. Worshiping their gods … washing away their sins. Just like that. No instagram, no Facebook, no selfies.

And I was there. Experiencing life in Benares.

If you enjoy my content about Benares and if you want to know more about my photography and why I take pictures they way I take them check it in HERE.

Check also my Documentary Website HERE.

My first family documentary reportage in Castelldefels! How it went?

How do I find families who might be interested in a family reportage photoshoot ? First thought – Can I ask on groups on Facebook?

So I did …

With many, many answers and questions about such a session, I got a message from Veronica. She told me about her family, about herself and she asked what family reportage is about.

I explained that this is just a non-popular, non-standard family reportage during which the photographer follows your day, and documents everything you do.

At first, I thought, it sounded strange for her, but in the end we were able to arrange a day when I could personally explain what it was.

So one afternoon, we agreed to meet in the playground, where Veronica usually go with the children. This is their routine after school.

Veronica introduced me to her children and I explained what family reportage photography is about. I had the impression that she liked it, although she probably couldn’t quite imagine what it would look like.

However, despite this, I gave her time to think and the whole family had to think about whether they want to participate in such a photographic adventure.

After a few days of reflection, Veronica and her family agreed to spend a day and a half with me.

How did it start? Documentary Family Photography during the weekend

So one cold Saturday I arrived at their home. The kids probably were quite happy because they kept screaming, running and showed me how their rooms, the living room and even the bathroom looked like.

If I had to say what the documentary photographer worries about the most, is that the photographed people would pay too much attention to the photographer.

And I was afraid of that. That kids will pay too much attention to me, they will start to play with the camera and pose with an artificial smile. But I was pleasantly surprised.

Nothing like this happened. Almost immediately the kids took care of their things and after a very short time I could start taking photos.

Usually, I try not to take pictures on the first evening so that the children could get used to me, but in this case it was completely different.

The family took care of their activities and I quickly became invisible. Friday evening is pizza, movie, fun and late sleeping. It gave me a lot of cool moments to photograph, especially when the dad decided to play with the children.

The moments when parents show affection to their children are probably one of my favorites and maybe that’s why I look forward to them.

Sunday. To be able to reflect the reality of each family as much as possible, the family photographer must be very focused and as long as possible participate in the routine of the family. That is why Sunday started at 7am because I knew that at that time the children would probably wake up.

And so it happened. Morning fun, breakfast, making plans for Sundays and some crying. For the family documentary photographer, all emotions are important, so I always try to faithfully reflect what is happening. Even if it’s crying.

Plan for the Sunday – a short trip to the mountains. Trips to the beach or to the mountains are always a good environment for photos because the family has a lot of opportunities to interact. It gives the opportunity to do really beautiful photos.

The day ended with a small bicycle trip to the park. However, not everyone was happy about this (see the photo of an abandoned bicycle 🙂 )

A few days after giving photos to the family, I got from them a short reply “Oh, we love the photos. They are amazing. We saw them and we want to see them 100 times more. To watch them over and over again. Thank you for this amazing gift! “

For such answers it is worth doing what I do 🙂

If you would like to see my other pictures from different families– just click here!

How it went with my first family photography in Sitges? This is the short summary!

It all started from one day when one of my friends contacted Pilar from Sitges

• Would you be interested in your family’s photo reportage?
• Family reportage? Can you tell me more about this?

From those few sentences, the beginnings of setting the date for the family photography reportage begun.

Familia Hormigo is my first family who let me to enter their home, photograph everything they do, their facial expressions, every smile, every affection.

This is the first family that has opened the door of their world to me so that I can show their reality and visually show the ties that connect them.

It is also the family where the shooting was the longest- 2 and a half days.

The first half of the day was more about getting to know the whole family, the kids and their cat Tom in their house in Sitges.

I tried not to photograph for the first hour, but when I saw that the children felt quite at ease in front of the camera I thought – why not? And I started to shoot!

And so began my work on family reporting. To reflect in the best way what I saw with my eyes I tried to show their emotions, character and how their day looks like.

There were running, screams, playing with the cat, lego, making popcorn, pancakes and an evening with pizza and film.

It was an exhausting half of the day thanks to which I was able to gather interesting material for the family documentary reportage.

The next 2 days of photos took place after a month, when we finally agreed on one date.

From Saturday morning to Sunday evening I had the opportunity to be part of the family and share with them their little private world.

I managed to capture small specimens of affection, moments of boredom, play, gestures, and the behavior of children which often escape the attention of parents.

I took over 3000 photos and each tells a different story.

From these 3000 I chose the best ones which, (according to me), are the best story of Pilar Joaquim Adama Kenzo y Victoria.

Let these photos be a beautiful authentic little gift that You will take with You wherever you go 🙂

I’m looking for doing some family photoshoots in Barcelona as it is a perfect city to do it because of its buildings, beautiful streets, light and unique location

If you would like to see my other pictures from different families- just click here!

Barcelona is on fire!! Protests in Catalunya in October 2019. Since few days there are big protests in Barcelona and in cities around. What’s happening there? Let me explain You.

On October 17, 2018, the supreme court of the Spanish state condemned long pressures to politicians, leaders of Catalan social movements and the president of the Catalan parliament who had proclaimed the independence of Catalonia, as a result of a referendum that took place on October 1 and that had been banned by the Spanish state.

The night the prison sentences were published, Barcelona for the first time in many years filled its streets with fire and violent protests against police forces.

The Barcelona, I knew until that moment was transformed into a place that seemed distant to me, barricades of fire on the main street, on Aragon Street, smoke, sirens, hooded boys and with their faces covered running, screaming, throwing everything kind of things to the police vans that were chasing them.

That night and the following, Barcelona dressed in smoke, fear, violence by all those who took the streets shouting “the streets will always be ours.”

The extraordinary thing of those nights, were not the cries of indpendence, nor the mass demonstrations. In Catalonia that was already normal for years, since in Spain it governed a right-wing party that unearthed the most nationalistic feelings since the disappearance of the dictator Franco.

The extraordinary thing, he said, was the violence, the unleashed and enraged anger that until that moment had not been seen, and that broke the slogan that had characterized all the independence manifestations that said proud that, above all, nonviolence was their form of expression.

Like all violent conflicts, it is difficult to explain who is under the hoods and behind the barricades. That night I could not resist mixing among these people, taking the photos I could, and asking them questions. Why they were burning Barcelona.

Among those people, mostly young, I found a bit of everything. Catalan boys and girls who could not contain their anger. For the prison sentences of their political and social representatives who had fulfilled their electoral programs and for what they had been elected.

I found guys who don’t know very well what was going on, but if it was about confronting the police, it sure was fine.

I found foreigners, Italians, French and Germans. They were not the tourists, they were probably Black blocks, attracted by the conflict.

Some even answered me, “You are not from here, you don’t understand anything.” That is the kind of response you can find in any confrontation scenario, where the political background is the national identity.

Barelona has always been an open city, since its Olympic Games in 1992. Barcelona became a cosmopolitan place.

That night, everything changed. I wanted to see it and tell it, because what had been going on since 2006, that night hatched in the form of fire, shouts and smoke that ran through the beautiful stone of the facade of Gaudí’s “‚ la pedrera ”.

What happens in Catalonia, is not over. The night of October 17 was just one more episode, although I wish it was the last in which fear, violence and fire made tourism for my beloved Barcelona.

I’m very lucky to be in Barcelona and to have a chance to document those events. I think they are important part of the Catalan and Spanish history. I believe that one day those pictures will show the truth about the difficult and long process that Catalonia is taking to be independent from Spain. We will see…

I did also a reportage about spanish DIADA, which is celebrated in September. You can see how people in Catalonia show their identity.

If you would like to check my other post about family documentary photography – click here!

POLSKI

Barcelona płonie !! Protesty w Katalonii w październiku 2019 r. Od kilku dni w Barcelonie i okolicach toczą się wielkie protesty. Co tu się dzieje? Pozwól, że ci wyjaśnię.

17 października 2018 r. Sąd najwyższy Hiszpanii potępił długie naciski na polityków, liderów katalońskich ruchów społecznych i przewodniczącego katalońskiego parlamentu, który ogłosił niepodległość Katalonii, w wyniku referendum, które odbyło się w październiku 1, a i było zakazane przez Hiszpanię.

W noc, w której wydano wyroki więzienia, Barcelona po raz pierwszy od wielu lat wypełniła swoje ulice ogniem i gwałtownymi protestami przeciwko policji.

Barcelona, ​​którą znałam do tej pory, przekształciła się w miejsce, które wydawało mi się odległe. Barykady ognia na głównej ulicy, dym, syreny, zakapturzeni chłopcy i z zakrytymi twarzami biegającymi, krzyczącymi, rzucającymi wszystko rzeczy dla policyjnych samochodów, które ich ścigały.

Tej nocy i następnej Barcelona ubrana w dym, strach, przemoc ze strony wszystkich, którzy wyszli na ulice krzycząc „ulice zawsze będą nasze”.

Niezwykłą rzeczą tamtych nocy nie były krzyki niepodległości ani masowe demonstracje. W Katalonii, było to już na porządku dziennym od lat, ponieważ w Hiszpanii rządziła prawicowa partia, która odkryła najbardziej nacjonalistyczne uczucia od czasu zniknięcia dyktatora Franco.

Niezwykłą rzeczą, jak powiedziałam, była przemoc, rozpętana i rozwścieczona złość, której do tej pory nie było widać.

Jak wszystkie gwałtowne konflikty, trudno jest wyjaśnić, kto jest odpowiedzialny. Tej nocy nie mogłam się oprzeć wmieszaniu w ludzi, robieniu zdjęć i zadawaniu im pytań. Dlaczego palili Barcelonę.

Wśród tych osób, głównie młodych, było różne osoby. Katalońscy chłopcy i dziewczęta, którzy nie mogli powstrzymać swojego gniewu. Za wyroki więzienia ich politycznych i społecznych przedstawicieli, którzy wypełniali swoje programy wyborcze i za to, że zostali wybrani.

Byli tam obcokrajowcy, Włosi, Francuzi i Niemcy. Nie byli turystami, byli prawdopodobnie Black Blocks przyciągniętymi konfliktem.

Niektórzy nawet odpowiedzieli mi: „Nie jesteś stąd, nic nie rozumiesz”. Taką odpowiedź można znaleźć w każdym scenariuszu konfrontacji, w którym tłem politycznym jest tożsamość narodowa.

Barelona zawsze była miastem otwartym od czasu Igrzysk Olimpijskich w 1992 roku. Barcelona stała się kosmopolitycznym miejscem.

Tej nocy wszystko się zmieniło. Chciałam to zobaczyć i pokazać, ponieważ tej nocy Barcelona pokazała się w postaci ognia, krzyków i dymu.

To, co dzieje się w Katalonii, jeszcze się nie skończyło. Noc 17 października była tylko kolejnym epizodem, choć żałuję, że nie była ostatnim, w którym strach, przemoc i ogień stworzyły sobie miejsce.

Mam szczęście, że jestem w Barcelonie i mam okazję udokumentować te wydarzenia. Myślę, że są ważną częścią historii Katalonii i Hiszpanii.

Wierzę, że pewnego dnia te zdjęcia pokażą prawdę o trudnym i długim procesie, jaki podejmuje Katalonia, aby uniezależnić się od Hiszpanii. Zobaczymy…

Zrobiłem także reportaż o hiszpańskiej DIADA, który obchodzony jest we wrześniu. Możesz zobaczyć, jak ludzie w Katalonii pokazują swoją tożsamość.

Jeśli chcesz zobaczyć moje inne posty na temat rodzinnej fotografii dokumentalnej – kliknij tutaj!