Monday 17 November 2014

Gubin i Brody zagrożone odkrywką

Projekt fotograficzny dla Greenpeace Polska

'W województwie lubuskim, na terenie gmin Gubin i Brody, ma powstać największa w Polsce odkrywka węgla brunatnego. W 2009 r. mieszkańcy regionu wypowiedzieli się w prawomocnych referendach przeciwko jej budowie, nie wpłynęlo to jednak na plany koncernu węglowego PGE, zgodnie z którymi od 2030 r. ma zacząć powstawać dziura w ziemi o powierzchni prawie 8000 hektarów; wysiedlonych zostanie 15 wsi. W sierpniu 2014 r. w regionie doszło do ogromnej antyodkrywkowej manifestacji - mieszkańcy obu lubuskich gmin wspólnie z mieszkańcami Dolnych Łużyc w Niemczech, zagrożonymi przez analogiczną odkrywkę koncernu Vattenfall, utworzyli ludzki łańcuch z 7500 osób, łączący odległe o ok. 8 kilometrów wsie Grabice (PL) i Kerkwitz (D). Kilka miesięcy wcześniej zapytaliśmy miejscowych, dlaczego właściwie nie chcą tej inwestycji.'

                                               Leszek Pazderski, Greenpeace  

'Pani Marzena jest w ostatnim miesiącu ciąży, poród za kilka dni. Normalnie jest to powód do radości, ale i ona, i pan Henryk nie są w nastroju do świętowania. Mają świadomość, że jeśli przyjdzie kopalnia, ich dotychczasowe życie legnie w gruzach. Gorzej – dziś mogą uchodzić za zamożnych gospodarzy, 230 hektarów to jest coś – ale już niedługo mogą zostać po prostu z niczym. Powód jest prosty: ogromna większość ziemi, gospodarstwo w budynkach poniemieckiego folwarku – nie należy do nich: dzierżawa z Agencji Nieruchomości Rolnych. Więc gdy przyjdzie odkrywka – a cała wieś Grabice ma zostać pochłonięta przez wielką dziurę – nie dostaną grosza.'
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Sunday 12 October 2014

Sunday Portrait

                                                        COPYRIGHT © ULA WIZNEROWICZ

Tuesday 30 September 2014

Eviction of Jan

Eviction of Jan Kwiatkowski from Galczyce in Wielkopolska, Poland. The area in which the farm is located, has been used to extend The Tomislawice open cast mine which belongs to PAK KWB Konin. 
Picture of Jan, from my project 'From the shadow of Toislawice Mine' is currentlybeeing exhibited in Lula, Sardinia. 
Check out the video made by Greenpeace Polska.

The story of Jan and his wife is real and quite shocking. It's not just that his farm is on the very edge of the mine and the buckets of the excavator turn slowly outside his window. Jan is the envy of the whole county - all of his land will be mined, they'll take the money and start life afresh.


Jan had problems with the valuation of his land. "I've been in court with the mine for four years now, and things are going that way because Polish courts are very just but also very slow. They've been taking my land for two years now," he gestures with his hand to a pit that begins just outside his window and stretches out to the horizon. "I wanted my price, they wanted theirs. The court is making its own valuation but that will take time and in the meantime the mine got a dispensation that allowed it to enter my property. And so I have no compensation and nothing to live off. Is this normal for this country - what do you think? Because I think that something is wrong here. They are trying to force me, plain and simple, like Lukashenka did in Ukraine, because if I have nothing to eat then I'll come to them on my knees. And the council has sent me a tax bill for the land which I no longer have, because they say that if I haven't relinquished the land to the mine in court then I have to pay tax on it. The fact that there's no land because now there's a pit is not important."
Jan, clearly irritated, shows the tax bill from the council, which has added punitive interest. "This year they're supposed to demolish my house and if I have nowhere to live then I get temporary accommodation somewhere in Wierzbnik. Because I can always just accept the compensation, their offer, based on their valuation."
Jan's wife says nothing but nods along to everything he says.  "At the public meeting they said that they will give a job to one son from each of the farms that will make way for the mine to compensate for their loss of inheritance. My son just graduated from the mining academy so they took him on and he worked for nine months in a mine. But because I stood up to them they let him go. They told him that if his father signs then they'll even find him a management job."
It's hard to believe all of this so Jan takes us on a tour of the house and the excavator is so close that it won't fit in the camera lens. A week later we learn that Jan is to get a visit from TV repoter Elżbieta Jaworowicz from documentary series "A case for a Reporter" so perhaps something will turn out well.
Unfortunately it didn’t. Jan has been evicted from his house…



Tuesday 16 September 2014

SURRAU PHOTO WIN AWARD

Thrilled to be one of the 5 shortlisted photographers selected for the SURRAU PHOTO WIN AWARD, In this second edition is open only to the photographers selected for the festival Menotrentuno 2014. Thanks to the help of the sponsor Vigne Surrau, the festival this year can offer a bursary of 5.000 euros to the best project exhibited during the festival. The five photographers shortlisted, have been invited to spend a week-end in Arzachena, hosted by Vigne Surrau. The winner will be announced on the 20th of September. See you in Sardinia!

The Menotrentuno IV Festival

'From the shadow of Tomislawice Mine' is already on the walls of a historic centre, Lula in Sardinia. Have a look at one of my images which are taking part in The Menotrentuno IV Festival. You can read more about it here: http://www.menotrentuno.com/home-1/

Saturday 6 September 2014

Menotrentuno 2014

Happy to take part in THE MENOTRENTUNO, the international photography festival for young photographers up to 31 years old in Sardinia. Menotrentuno is looking for contemporary fresh eyes able to interpret the world and to create a reality where the young generations are the main characters of their times”. The fourth edition is made of 18 exhibitions in 11 villages and cities, drawing a sort of photographic map that spreads through the entire island. The fourth edition focuses on the topic of “Memory”, not the visual memory, but memory in a wider sense. In detail, this edition will try to understand which kind of memory is important to new generations.

Sunday 20 July 2014

Sunday's Interior

Stevenage, UK
                               © ULA WIZNEROWICZ          Stevenage, UK

Saturday 12 April 2014

Der Grief Magazine on TV

Happy to be among 9 photographers selected for Capriccio - Bavarian television - broadcast, which made the video about Der Greif - magazine for photography & literature. Watch the video here.

»A Process« – The exhibition

I'm taking part in the Exhibition organized by Der Greif Magazine at The Neue Galerie im Höhmannhaus, Augsburg

During the exhibition the editors of DER GREIF make their different steps of artistic work open to the public. If you want to get a deeper insight into the concept of the exhibition, click here.