60 COWS
The photograph of 60 cows tells the story of a large herd that was an integral part of the landscape of a Polish village where I spent a lot of time over the years. Often, in the early morning, I would walk to the fields to admire the sunrise, and upon returning home, I always took pleasure in watching the cows running onto the meadow. Their running was full of joy, and their jumps resembled the energy of young dogs playing. Unfortunately, one summer, the cows ceased to appear on the meadow, prompting me to inquire about their fate from neighbors. It turned out that the entire herd, including older cows and young calves, had been sold for meat to a slaughterhouse.
This story lingered in my thoughts, especially during the return from sunrise outings when I looked at the now-empty meadow. Finally, I decided to capture their story in a photograph.
Over the next year, I traveled across Poland in search of that one unique picture. In the meantime, I discovered other stories related to cow farming. One that particularly stayed with me was a newspaper article describing a new, innovative milking technology: 60 cows standing in circular stalls, fed and milked without human intervention.
Deprived of contact with other animals, the sky, grass, and fresh air, their entire lives unfolded in confinement. Although this technology increased the productivity of dairy cows by 30%, after two years, their efficiency significantly declined, and tired animals were sent to the slaughterhouse, making way for another 60.
In my photograph, you can see the throat of a cow with two flies hovering beneath. The composition of the image creates symbolism, foretelling danger and impending death. It can also be interpreted as an aerial photograph depicting a fragment of land and water, referencing the broader context of industrial animal farming.
The story of the 60 cows became the impetus for the initiation of the photographic project "The Line" narrating the fates of animals in our human world. When the project is completed, all the photographs will be hung side by side on a wall, forming a line of life, representing my personal hope for change.
2017 Photography. Limited edition 10 pcs + 2AP, pigment print on the cotton Fine Art paper, 640×900 mm (500×750 mm without passepartout)
100 HORSES
We love horses for their beauty. We value paintings, photographs, sculptures that extol the beauty of these animals, but we don’t really care about their true fate… These animals, when they are too old, too tired, too sick or simply unnecessary, end up at meat markets. Often, on trains, they are transported across Europe in dire conditions. In terrible suffering, they travel from Poland to Italy, France and Belgium to end their lives in slaughterhouses there.
The photo shows only a fragment of the horse’s body, it is supposed to resemble a planet – a place of great pain on a global scale. I deliberately resigned from presenting the most beautiful fragments – the head, muscles or the horse’s silhouette… In real, we forgot about them.
The title of the photo refers to the hundred horses saved from such a fate by a foundation that runs a shelter for them. Each of them is a separate heartbreaking story.
The title of the photo refers to the hundred horses saved from such a fate by a foundation that runs a shelter for them. Each of them is a separate heartbreaking story.
2021 Photography. Limited edition 10 pcs + 2AP, pigment print on the cotton Fine Art paper, 640×900 mm (500×750 mm without passepartout)
40 GOATS
In 2016, in Oregon, Mrs. Lainey Morse created a new type of yoga session. People train in the presence of little goats. The animals are happy to accompany them, they can be petted, they jump on the exercising people during training. The mere contact with goats allows for deeper relaxation, the touch calms down, and their antics give you energy and put you in a good mood. These animals are very sociable and curious, they willingly take part in joint activities. This shows how much good we can give to each other, live in symbiosis without cages, without suffering.
In everyday life, we have forgotten about communing with nature, with animals that can be the best remedy for stress, loneliness and depression.
The photo is inspired by the story of 40 goats participating for the first time in Poland in the Goat Yoga session in 2018. Exercises with goats were incredibly successful and are a permanent item in the calendar of one of the animal shelters, the pioneer of Goat Yoga in Poland.
2021 Photography. Limited edition 10 pcs + 2AP, pigment print on the cotton Fine Art paper, 640×900 mm (500×750 mm without passepartout)
42 HENS
Hens are extremely delicate birds with extraordinary sensitivity, they can live up to even 10 years. The photo shows one of the hens living in the countryside, on a small farm. No one will kill her here, the bird will live to die naturally. According to the words „good that you are”, no one requires anything from her. As the farmer says, sometimes she gives eggs and the most important word here is „gives”… There are 42 happy hens on this farm that sometimes give eggs to their hosts.
This story was cited as a contrast to factory farming where hens live for 6 weeks. Hens for meat receive a special feed that makes them gain weight very quickly. Those weaker or smaller than the others are immediately brutally killed on the spot.
At 5 weeks, the chickens gain supernatural weight, when they fall over they are no longer able to get up, the breeders turn them over so that they can eat and drink. At the 6th week, the hens are no longer able to bear their weight, they lie on the litter. At this stage, they are collected and transported to the slaughterhouse. In a moment, new, beautiful, pink pieces of meat on plastic trays, secured with foil, will appear in the store.
The photo refers to the delicacy and sensitivity of hens, such as we are unable to experience when going to the store for meat. Can this change? Can the quoted story of happy hens become an inspiration on a larger scale?
2022 Photography. Limited edition 10 pcs + 2AP, pigment print on the cotton Fine Art paper, 640×900 mm (500×750 mm without passepartout)
13 SWANS
In the past, swans were called „royal birds”, but not because of their beauty, but because of the unique taste of meat intended for royal tables. The powerful magnates left, and these birds were no longer bred, now they live in the wild. This photograph is a story about a flock of mute swans, migratory birds that usually fly away to warmer countries in autumn. However, this is not always the case. In summer, people feed these birds.
The abundance of food causes them to decide to stay in the same place for the winter. Unfortunately, when the temperature drops to negative values, this has dire consequences. Birds often die en masse trapped in the ice, on the surface of the water, and also starve when everything around is frozen.
The scene shows part of a flock of 13 mute swans just before deciding to fly for warmer countries.
2020 Photography. Limited edition 10 pcs + 2AP, pigment print on the cotton Fine Art paper, 640×900 mm (500×750 mm without passepartout)
