Wojtek Kutyla

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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 body of work was created during my participation in the Sputnik Photos Mentoring Programme.

Collaborators

Rafał Marciniak, Marta Dąbrówka, Maciej Bargieła, Magdalena Pilarska, Bogumiła Kutyła

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

Please follow Wojtek’s Instagram for regular updates on exhibitions of this work.