60 COWS
The photo of 60 cows is a story about a large herd, which for many years was an inseparable element of the landscape of a the Polish village. One day the flock simply disappeared. The animals were sold and taken to the slaughterhouse. There they were killed within moments. At the same time, information about the new milking technology appeared in the press. 60 cows stand in boxes arranged in a circle, they are fed and milked without human intervention. they are deprived of contact with other animals, with the sky, grass, fresh air…
They spend their entire lives locked up. This technology increases the productivity of dairy cows by 30%, but after 2 years their productivity drops significantly, so they end up in the slaughterhouse, and another, new 60 cows stand in the circle.
The photo shows a cow’s throat and two flies flying under it. It is a symbol of danger, they herald the coming death. The composition can be viewed as an aerial photograph showing a fragment of land and water. This is a presentation of the problem of industrial animal husbandry in a wider context.
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)
