Their insightful sense of observation and talent for storytelling through images have frequently been recognized internationally: photographs by the members of the Sputnik Photos collective have won prestigious awards, such as the World Press Photo, the Picture of the Year International and Sony World Photography Award, and they have appeared in foreign magazines and been presented at galleries and festivals around the world.
The exhibition features selected works by the members of the collective: Jan Brykczyński, Rafał Milach, Agnieszka Rayss, Adam Pańczuk, Michał Łuczak, Andrei Liankievich, Manci Juvan, Justyna Mielnikiewicz and their students presenting original photographic projects: Wiktor Dąbkowski, Dominika Gęsicka, Marta Kosiorek, Dagna Nippe, and Ela Polkowska. The show opens on 12th March during the biennial of photography at the Derby Museum and Art Gallery.
The essential part of the exhibition arranged by the Sputnik Photos are the photos selected from two cycles: Stand By and Distant Place. The first, featuring the acceptance of inactivity but at the same time a call into action (‘Stand, Belarus' – the abbreviation BY is an international designation of the State), depicts the country called ‘the last dictatorship in Europe’. The photographs taken in Belarus over the course of two years (2011-2012) are an insightful testimony of people’s life in that region. The authors have immersed themselves in the banality of everyday existence (Adrei Liankevich, Agnieszka Rayss), documented the oldest forests on the continent (Jan Brykczyński), followed the modern heroes (Rafal Milach) – while exposing the language of propaganda – as well as the common man (Justyna Mielnikiewicz, Adam Pańczuk) trying to capture his/her memories and desires.
The second series of photographs shows a part of the Vistula river in Warsaw as a distant place, somewhat exotic, and more disturbing than beautiful. For some, it is a quiet haven, even a magical space, for others, it is a battlefield or an area for socially excluded people. The Sputnik photographers captured this ambivalence in a flawless fashion. On the one hand, they have created a subtle document, on the other – an appalling and irritating record. Capturing the river in a metaphorical way allows a viewer to appreciate the image as such, but also becomes a source of inspiration and encouragement for reflection and interpretation that goes beyond time and place.