Wojtek Kutyla

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Invitation to collaboration

Dance, dance, otherwise we are lost.

Pina Bausch

This is an experiment

I don’t know what the end effect will be. It’s all about being carried out by the process. The idea was born instantly and without much planning. I photographed my friend Emiliya Yordanova as she spontaneously lost herself in an emotional dance. It was just a ‘short coffee visit’ that ended up being something magical, where we shared the energy of the creative act.

After looking at the images, my sketch idea became to assemble a series of collage-like works that convey the nature of movement and the grace of becoming lost in one’s thoughts and feelings. I combined minimalistic, heavily cropped images of Emiliya’s limbs and body parts.

Then I realised I was looking at a potential project and something to try with more folks!

The method

I want to open up and let the people I photograph have control over what happens in front of my lens. I want to avoid direct control. I want to achieve a flow. I want folks to get lost and dance or move in a way they see fit to express whatever they feel. When this happens, I will make photographs in this mutual, meditative state without thinking at all (or without much thinking). Let’s just put the music on and see what works.

Would you like to get involved?

If you dance, do yoga or aerial, practice gymnastics, ballet, or something else that makes people move and express themselves, get in touch. We could work together on a series of artworks. Once I build a selection of photographs from different people, I would love to exhibit them (eventually) or put them together into a book or a zine.

Here are a few pieces of information to make things more straightforward:

  1. All sessions will take place in my private and spacious studio in Edinburgh. We would work in the evening or afternoon if it’s a working day or over the weekend. I don’t envisage more than one session per person—unless it’s so much fun that we want to carry on!
  2. Each shoot will take up to three hours. We need to get to know each other first, and then it’s work time.
  3. You have to be comfortable with your body. While Emiliya worked with me spontaneously, dressed casually, I want to try something more deliberate this time. You’d have to wear comfortable clothing that does not limit your body’s movements, or you may wish not to wear anything or just something. It’s up to you. We can discuss it before the day. Dance the way you like, pal.
  4. You will sign a model release that will put you at ease and allow me to exhibit or publish the images later.
  5. You will always be the first person to see the results. They won’t go anywhere online without your explicit ‘yes’.
  6. As a thank-you, you will receive a print or artwork (or whatever comes out 🙂 of the result. I will tag you on Instagram and credit you wherever necessary (unless you say you don’t want me to).
  7. If there is ever an exhibition of this work or a book, I will credit you and invite you to it.
  8. You have to be an adult to work with me. Sorry, kids.

Please let me know if you are still interested by writing to me on Instagram or emailing me. Forward a few images of yourself and tell me who you are. If this isn’t for you, maybe you know someone who would like to participate? Forward this page to them. Thanks.

Wojtek Kutyla