Wojtek Kutyla

Skip to content

Here, There, Nowhere

Project statement

Leaving the place I come from, I became an immigrant — forever a stranger. I live between memories and a reality that surprises me every day. Nowhere feels like home.

Ewa Hoffman wrote in her book ‘Lost in Translation’:

“The soul can shrivel from an excess of critical distance, and if I don’t want to remain in arid internal exile for the rest of my life, I have to find a way to lose alienation without losing myself. But how does one bend toward another culture without falling over, how does one strike an elastic balance between rigidity and self-effacement?”

(translation: Wojtek Kutyla)

By putting on the mask of a strange creature, I disappear. I can be myself, yet also stand out. Though visible, I am ignored by most people. I give the camera to others to see myself in the mirror.

This project is a work in progress (2024-). It was created during the mentorship in the Sputnik Photos Mentoring Programme.

Collaborators

Rafał Marciniak, Marta Dąbrówka, Maciej Bargieła, Magdalena Pilarska

Photographs

Wojtek dressed as a green monster does flip-ups on a metal rack in a Polish, derelict garden
Wojtek, dressed as the Nessie monster, waits for the bus
Nessie's head sticking out of the car window
Wojtek as a monster in Poland, on a derelict parking in Warsaw
Wojtek as Nessie in the park, sitting next to a person who ignores him
Wojtek sitting on a pile of cut trees
Wojtek dressed as the Nessie monster, waving to the person in the window
Wojtek sitting on a bench, with Calton Hill half-Partenon behind his back
Wojtek as a monster with passers-by on a tram stop in Warsaw
Wojtek, dressed as a monster, on the way to a rubbish bin

This project is a work in progress. Please follow Wojtek’s Instagram for regular updates.