Monika Orpik is an artist from Poland, based in Warsaw. Through the medium of photography and experimental processes in the darkroom, she tries to explore the subject of trauma of post-conflict communities and question the influence of art on the process of reconciliation.

Photobook – Stepping Out Into This Almost Empty Road

Stepping Out Into This Almost Empty Road looks at the moment of change when the most idyllic scenario becomes a horror of a political regime. From picking apples in the orchard to tear gas on the street. The book combines photographic material and texts that revolve around the permanent in-between state that is inseparable from the notion of migration. Despite being focused on stories of a specific community, the book makes visible what is universal in the context of transition.

Orpik captures the ripples of change across the region surrounding the border between Poland and Belarus in the wake of Belarus’ 2020 presidential election and subsequent anti-government protests, and the ongoing refugee crisis. She is interested in the pivotal moment when “the most idyllic scenario becomes a horror of a political regime”, “from picking apples in the orchard to tear gas in the street.” 

Orpik choses to work on the basis of invitation and collaboration rather than stepping into something one doesn’t belong to. For her encounter itself was more important than its outcome. The community was portrayed in the way they decided for leaving their traces only in text or photographed objects and landscapes that surround them on a daily basis. The process of ‘Stepping Out Into This Almost Empty Road’ became a reflection on what constitutes neighbourhood, the experience of migration and how the values of diversity can bring people together.

 

Image analysis

With this image here, I decided to chose this image as it displays what I think to be a strong image for the theme of complex as it goes down the route of displaying a vast range of plants such as the ones right in front of the camera and also the ones within the greenhouse. I like the choice of making the image black and white as it displays a much more intense approach to the theme of complex and showcases more texture and patterns within the piece.

I would somewhat argue that it does fall into the category of simple due to the concept of the image just being of a lady in a greenhouse checking her plants. It’s not an overly complicated photography concept so I would say that this image also displays senses of simplicity.

Plan

	Concept	Location	Theme	Settings
Photoshoot 4	Abstract photography, rural landscapes	St Mary – Hamptonne, St ouens – sand dunes at La Braye	Hidden Identity, childhood identity, identity in nature	Manual, Landscape, Macro, Creative Auto

Photoshoot 4

After all of my trouble with the weather in my other shoots, I did my last photoshoot on a sunny evening, during the golden hour. This worked out well for me, and I managed to produce some quality outcomes that were useful going forward. In particular, I managed to capture nature’s interaction with the urban world that disrupts it – for example, the reflections of things such as trees and sand on roads. I focused a lot on roads and beaches in this project – I began to become more and more interested in the different textures on the old, non-resurfaced roads where I was photographing, and their weathered look. I photographed most roads where I was photographing and as my shoots went on I knew what to look for – in this shoot I was looking at uneven and cracked tarmac, markings and reflections.

Selections

Editing

Photoshoot 5

This shoot was unplanned – I was out at this location and had my camera with me, – I decided to take a few shots of the sunset. These images may not necessarily fit with my photo book, but may make some successful final prints in colour, as most of my work is in black and white.

Selections

Editing

I didn’t do much editing for these images – I liked the colours in a lot of them, and only adjusted minor things such as straightening the horizon line or slight cropping.

Final Images for both shoots

Evaluation for both shoots

Overall, both of these shoots were really successful, and as my final photoshoots, I think that my project has generated some really strong final photos. As usual, I found that my photoshoots improved as I went along and in my last formal shoot, I found it easier to find what I was looking for in my images in the landscape. For example strong shadows and contrasts in light and colour, interesting textures such as roads and sand, different light and reflections. Overall, I think these two shoots were successful – however, I do think that in photoshoot 5, I should have changed location for the last part of the shoot. I found my images to be a little repetitive towards the end and this led to my images becoming uninteresting. Therefore, if I was to carry out this shoot again, I would move around the sand dunes where I was shooting more to produce a higher variety of shots, and more different types of images to work with.