Traveling to Poland is a labor of love for me. It’s an heartrending place but I have found solace and friendship there in the midst of unspeakable sorrow and destruction. Each time I think I have ‘finished’ my project (Loss and Beauty), I catch myself looking back to Poland.
While I am working in Eastern Europe to create images for my project, I don’t photograph elements. I am unable to create composites in that manner. I make the best available photograph, the one that speaks to me. Later, if the images resonate with each other then I will begin the compositing process.
A few of the images in the gallery are from the Commemorative Ceremony of the 70th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz. It was an historic moment as it is the last time a large number of Survivors will gather at the camps. Most are in their 90’s. I am humbled by their courage and use the example of their lives as a beacon to illuminate my work.
UPDATE: I’m very pleased to announce that my work for Loss and Beauty, Part 2, began this April (2019). There are new opportunities for private travel with me in the coming two years. I’ll be working in Poland, western Ukraine, Latvia and Lithuania. If you are interested in the history of this area during the Second World War, come with me. I’ll be traveling with guides and world-class historians to deepen my understanding and inform the photography. The first two trips were a tremendous success!
