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The series of photographs presents four stories of wonderful men. They are selected from among many examples in which we still often believe today, and which are accompanied by many doubts. We define ourselves, create our world view, through the prism of history, often without analysing the emerging new facts and discoveries.

What impact on our life and our world would have the awareness that we live in completely different time, miracles do not exist, you can be immortal and a man has never visited the moon… Are the roots of the past so important for us in defining our own identity?

At least, how much space do we allow to take mystification in our faith? Very often we can hear that we are living in fake time. However, I think that the fake time have existed since beginning of our civilisation.

Current exibition – „Wundermann” on group exhibition NordArt 2020/21, Kunstwerk Carlshütte, Büdelsdorf, Germany, June – October 2021

 

1722

The Wundermann photo series is started with perhaps the greatest deception in the history of Western civilization. „1722”, the photo shows Charlemagne – king of the Franks and Lombards, emperor, father of the idea of a common, united Europe… but this figure probably never existed…

There is the Phantom Time Theory, also known as the Spectral Theory, that originated in Germany. It concerns forgery related to time – it is about the period between 614 and 911 A.D. About 300 years have been overwritten, and everything that happened at that time has been made up.

If this theory turned out to be true, what reasons could be behind a fraud on such a large scale?

In the first millennium of our era, only the church had the exclusive right to prepare documents of various types, from chronicles, legal records, to acts of granting titles or lands. Based on a document called the „Donation of Constantine” of AD 315, AD 750 the church State, today known as the Vatican, was founded. In the document, the Roman emperor Constantine the Great, simplified, gave the church many laws and lands in Rome for the Holy See. In the same document, he stated that the bishop of Rome would exercise authority over the entire Catholic Church. Beyond doubt, already in the 15th century this document was considered a forgery, the Emperor of Rome Constantine the Great never made such a document. The Vatican and the papal authority over the entire church are based on forgery – on the basis of this knowledge, Martin Luther questioned the authority and function of the pope.

If the church state was founded in AD 750 on the basis of a falsified document, as well as the essence of its power, how best to authenticate a fraud on such a large scale? Isn’t turning the calendar counter 300 years – is it not the perfect way to do that? Hence, perhaps the idea of creating a fairy-tale super-character Charlemagne to fill the historical gap in the chronicles.

How could we and our identity be affected by the awareness that we live in 1724 and not 2021? The phantom time theory has never been fully proven or disproved. If we are not sure of the year we live in, can we be sure of anything?

Since 1000, the sarcophagus of Charlemagne has been opened many times, it is known that he was 192 cm tall, at that time a man of such height would be considered a giant – maybe that is why „Great”… The oldest fragment of his shroud comes from the 10th century, 100 years after his death…

On my photo, Charlemagne was portrayed while posing for a painting. Two very important details can be found in the photo: on the sword there is an inscription „Cogito ergo dubito” meaning „I am therefore I am doubtful”, as well as a brooch made of flies fastening the cloak. These details are an invitation to self-analysis and building your own opinions.

Photography. Limited edition 8 + 2AP  / The part of series „Wunderman”
Print on the cotton Fine Art paper, 1300×920 mm.

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ECCE HOMO

„Ecce Homo” or „Here is the man.” The photograph shows an ordinary person standing in the water. Jesus Christ, like Charlemagne, was unusually tall for those times. As indicated by the Shroud of Turin, one of the prime evidence of Christ’s existence, Jesus was about 182 cm tall. This means that both at the beginning of our era and in the early Middle Ages, these men could have passed for giants – in those days people were much smaller. The shroud, according to various reports based on the C14 carbon study, dates from the first half of the 14th century.

The traces on the canvas illustrate with great accuracy the descriptions of the Passion Christ contained in the New Testament. It is extraordinary that the oral accounts circulating among the first Christians managed to maintain such faithful detail in the description of the entire crucifixion process over the course of about 50 years, until the first writing of history.

The history of the shroud begins in 1350, when a knight allegedly presented it as an original relic to a church in Lirey, France. Around 1389, Pope Clement VI, after numerous consultations, decided that this shroud is certainly not the original material in which Jesus was wrapped after his death, but as an icon it can still be displayed as the shroud of Jesus. It is officially information announced to this day by Vatican.

At the beginning of the 15th century, the forgery of the Shroud of Turin was confirmed in writing for the second time by Holy Capital, but this did not prevent a great tour in France with the presentation of the Shroud of Christ as a relic, in the near future.

On July 10, 2018, an interesting article was published in the Journal of Forensic Sciences. An experiment was carried out to recreate the reflections of human blood on a similar piece of cloth. After many attempts with both a living human and a mannequin, as well as with human and synthetic blood, it was not even possible to get closer to the traces on the Shroud of Turin.

The object was also investigated by professors of the University of Liverpool in terms of crime – after all, it was a record of a murder. It turned out that from the criminal point of view, the marks on the shroud were meaningless. Garlaschelli, co-author of a forensic study who works at the University of Pavia in Italy, also published a study on the Shroud of Turin. In 2009, he created a copy of the shroud to refute claims that „it has some strange properties and characteristics that they say cannot be recreated with human hands.”

In 2008, a study was published on a shroud from Jerusalem found in 2000 in which a family member of the highest clergyman who would judge Christ was wrapped.

It turned out that the Jewish tradition was significantly different at that time from what the Shroud of Turin would suggest. It turned out that neither the stitch of the linen is correct – the stitch from the Shroud of Turin did not come to Europe until the 14th century and came from Syria, nor the tradition related to the preparation of the deceased for burial.

With so many doubts, do we really need miracles to believe in the wisdom of a man who wanted to make a difference?

Photography. Limited edition 8 + 2AP  / The part of series „Wunderman”
Print on the cotton Fine Art paper, 1300×920 mm

Color Awards 2020 – „Ecce Homo” nominated in Fine Art category

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WUNDERMANN

Wundermann, or Count Saint Germain, a man who, according to various documents, appeared in history at the turn of 300 years. His presence in Europe was first recorded in the 18th century. Every few dozen years he appeared at the courts of the aristocracy. He has always aroused interest. He could talk about the past in an unusual way as if he were a participant in it and shared his own memories with listeners. He claimed to be alive for 2,000 years. He knew 14 languages and literature very well, he played the violin and cello, but most of all … He was an alchemist, a magician. He was able to perform extraordinary magical arts in front of the audience, but most of all he had learned the secret of immortality. This made him extremely popular. Each time he was described in the same way: a 40-45-year-old man with impeccable manners, avoiding alcohol, almost never ate, went to bed very early.

Wundermann officially spent the last years of his life with Prince von Hessen-Kassel in Schleswig Holstein, studying chemistry. His funeral was held in the same place in 1784. However, when his coffin was opened 3 days later, it turned out to be empty. A year later, he was seen in 1785 at the Great Occult Convention, where he spoke.

Is immortality possible in the biological cycle of our world? Can our bodies stop aging thanks to the magic fluid? Can chemistry eliminate the aging gene from human DNA?

Photography. It is 1879 and Thomas Edison has just patented a light bulb. This is a special moment, science has gained practical status, in everyday life for everyone. Count Saint Germain is sitting at the table in the living room, which is lit by electric light. He holds a gold lump in his hand, lead is on the table, this is the moment when the magic slowly begins to fade away.

Are the count’s photo surrounded by mirror images, or are they a few very similar men, equally well-educated? Perhaps the key to Wundermann’s secret was his contacts with secret organizations? Maybe Count Saint Germain was a project, a way to gain influence at courts and in international politics?

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In 1779, for the first time, Landgraf Carl von Hessen, founder of Carlshutte, met Count Saint Germain in Altona. The Count was to say to the Landgraf: „I will visit you in Schleswig and you should see what great things we can achieve together.” In the following years, the Count, living in Schleswig Holstein, taught alchemy to Landgraf von Hessen, and also became friends and business partners. The Count Saint Germain died in 1784. Later, he was seen many times at various courts all over Europe. In 1827, Landgraf von Hessen founded the Carlshutte ironworks, where he initially produced „Carls-Metall” – supposedly according to the formula of Saint Germain himself. In 1832, a metal fountain bowl was built in Carlshutte for the Gottorf recreational gardens, on which an inscription in tribute to Count Saint Germain was hidden. In 1836, at the age of 92, Landgraf Carl von Hessen died. At his funeral, his friend… Count Saint Germain could not be missing among the mourners.

Currently, photos from the „Wundermann” series can be seen at NordArt 2021 in Büdelsdorf, in the Carlshütte halls.

Photography. Limited edition 8 + 2AP  / The part of series „Wunderman”
Print on the cotton Fine Art paper, 1300×920 mm.

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FLY APOLLO

On July 20, 1969, the moon landing took place. The Saturn V rocket carried three astronauts to the moon: Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins. The man stood on the moon for the first time in the humanity history…

When I created this photo, I initially used photos available on the NASA website for a sketch. However, to get a large size, I had to computer-generated the whole thing. I used 3D technology for this. Having a lot of experience, I knew that I can make almost the same image as the original photos from the moon. I have designed TV sets many times, which I later realized in reality.\

Often, before photo sessions, I prepare a lighting design using this technology. Every time I reached the same effect computer/real. What was my surprise when after building the scene and recreating the light on the moon based on the photos presented by NASA, nothing was right. It was something else entirely. For several days I changed the lighting conditions, I turned on various simulations. With no result. Only when I decided to create the effect of identical lighting, but with my own methods, I obtained a satisfactory effect, but I used it to simulate studio lights …

Maybe a man actually landed on the moon, but all indications are that the original photos presented by NASA were taken in the studio.

„Fly Apollo” was nominated and exibitited in final of competition of Leica 6×7 Award, in September 2019  |   Leica 6×7 Gallery Warsaw, Poland

Photography. Limited edition 8 + 2AP.
Print on the cotton Fine Art paper, 920×920 mm.

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POST SCRIPTUM

These four stories depict super heroes with a series of doubts around it. These are just a few examples in our rich history. Shouldn’t we be more cautious about the information we receive? We live in times of fake news, but as you can see, they have always accompanied us.

Today we can only meet super heroes in movies and comics. My postscript to this story is a photograph of a fortune telling machine coupled to an ATM. Is this what our faith looks like today?

Photography. Limited edition 8 + 2AP.
Print on the cotton Fine Art paper, 1300×920 mm