PHOTOGRAPHY / MUSIC / CAMERA / EDIT
Adam Lach
INTERVIEWS
Darek Kozlenko
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Last year, on april 10 April, 96 most important person in the state including President Lech
Kaczynski and his wife, were killed in a plane crash near Smolensk in Russia. On the first
anniversary of the tragedy at the Presidential Palace thousands of people gathered, not in order
to express his grief and sorrow, but because it would energize their dissatisfaction with the
current government, Moscow, and causes of tragedy. The main demonstration was initiated by
Jaroslaw Kaczynski (the brother of killed president), leader of PiS ( right fraction )
Adam Lach for Newsweek Polska
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Malysz's testimonial in the Tatra Mountains resort of Zakopane in southern Poland had drawn the big names of his sport, and 60,000 fans from across the nation including Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski and first lady Anna Komorowska. “This is a big party, but it's also a farewell. Thanks for being here for me for the last time,” Malysz told the huge crowd at a ceremony which was also broadcast live on Polish television, despite the fact the jumps were called off.
Malysz, who has retired aged 33, is considered one of ski jumping's all-time greats and enjoys a huge following among Poles that spreads beyond diehard fans of winter sports.
Over a 16-year career, he has notched up a total of 92 podium finishes, 39 of them victories.
His haul includes four World Championship titles, plus four World Cup titles, three of them in a row in 2001, 2002 and 2003. He also took silver and bronze at the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics in 2002 — when a record 13.8 million Poles, or almost one in three of the population, watched his performance on television — and double silver in Vancouver in 2010. In the final World Cup meet of this season, last weekend in Planica in Slovenia, Malysz capped his career with third place. (© AFP )
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PALACE CATS
Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw is a 350 plan, including, 12 electricians,
127 administrative staff and 49 cleaners. And 20 cats.
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CHRIST THE KING
The statue Christ the King, built in Swiebodzin, Poland, is the largest statue of Jesus in the world. It is situated on a small hill several miles east of the German-Polish border. The statue measures 52 meters (171 ft), total with the mound and the 3 meters (9.8 ft) tall crown. The statue alone is 33 metres (108 ft) tall. It weighs 440 tonnes. The project was conceived and led by Sylwester Zawadzki, a retired Polish priest. It was placed on a 16 metre embankment of stones and rubble. Christ the King has the height of 33 metres, symbolising the belief that Jesus died at the age of 33. It is 3 meters taller than the well known statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro.The photographs were taken between October 2008 and 21st November 2010.
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SUNNY BEACH
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Sunny Beach in Bulgaria, the largest and most popular Black Sea holiday resort, with around 600 hotels and 400 restaurants. Known as the Las Vegas of the Eastern Europe.
Discoteques, nightclubs, restaurants, amusement parks and hotels light-up the coastline at night. This sea resort attracts the rich and famous, mafia members, politicians and international tourists. It is a different world within one of the poorest nations in the European Union.
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NATIONAL PORTRAITS - SMOLENSK TRAGEDY
On April 10, 2010, around 8:40 am, a plane TU 154 crashed close to the town of Smolensk in Russia.Polish President Lech Kaczynski and his wife Maria were killed, along with Poland's chiefs of the army and the navy, central bank governor, MPs and leading historians who were among 96 passengers and plane crew members. Countless black-and-white faces, that are mostly blank, but not empty, gathered in front of the Presidential Palace. They reflect the trauma of the tragedy, but are somehow lacking in despair. It is difficult time for Poles; will it be a moment of national solidarity or a momentous experience, that will divide us?
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SHE'S DIFFERENT
Marina Till, a transsexual, has had numerous medical examinations and treatments, such as a very intense hormonal therapy, at times seriously weakening her organism. For a long time she has been dreaming about a sex change surgery but she can not afford it. She does not accept herself and her body. Suicide attempts and alcohol abuse are means of escape from the body she lives in. A body that does not belong to her. She said, "Once I swallowed a large amount of pills and they simply went right through my body. Sitting on the toilet I could hear them hitting its basin. It was then, I realized, that if it was so hard to kill oneself, then what would it take to change ones gender?"
I spent a few long weeks with Marina. I wondered how she coped with her difficult life-role. Her being suspended between mental existence as a woman and the masculine form of her physical being was for me a very important element of the transformation. I focused on the relation between herself and her body and was able to observe the existing antagonism, a proof of what she has yet to go through. After a sex change surgery she will legally, psychologically and physically become a woman and forget the fact, that once she was a man.
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THE CHILDREN OF BERMUDA TRIANGLE
The worst and the most dangerous district in Wroclaw, Poland, is called by many "The Bermuda Triangle". Walls bear inscription "Who will enter here, will not exit alive", families are pathological, living in extreme poverty. Children have no place to play so they loaf around this wasted district and disseminate juvenile delinquency. Many of them become sexually active though they are only 10-12 years old.
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SACRED REFUGE
Fearing the anger of the Church hierarchs, for years the Polish authorities have been blind to breaking the law, no matter which political party ruled the country. The disabled people are to be thrown out onto the streets because of unsupported claims for the restitution of Church property taken away during the PRL. The issue is being dealt with by 13 people who are members of a Church/governmental body called the Property Committee, a pecialist in making decisions during closed meetings basing on property evaluations that are far from true. And, there is nothing we can do about it, for the Committee’s rulings are final and irrevocable.
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LAST BREATH OF BOXING
Since the early 50' ties "Gwardia" has been famous for bringing up world boxing champions. The famed sports hall located by pl. Zelaznej Bramy in Warsaw witnessed trainings of Jerzy Kulej, the Skrzeczowie brothers, last Polish olympic champion Jerzy Rybicki or its most recent star Krzysztof "Diablo" Wlodarczyk. The club prides of numerous sport achievements, among others, 15 olympic medals (6 gold), over 60 medals from European and World Championships and over 100 from Championships of Poland. Today, only three small training halls remain from the former times of glory. One of the most famous in Polish history boxing section of Warsaw's "Gwardia" awaits its liquidation. This "Mecca" of Polish boxing is to be replaced by a huge supermarket, decisions imposed by Warsaw authorities.