Jak przez Szkło (As Through Glass) is a publication published by the Mission of the Warsaw-Prague Diocese. It contains a classic black-and-white photo-reportage about three centres for lepers run by Poles. The photographs were taken in 2009-2010 in Ramgarh, Puri and Jeevodaya in north-eastern India. Jeziorek presents the work of doctors and missionaries. The book includes his interview with Dr Helena Pyz on the topic of her work and leprosy.
317 Days to Mars is Jeziorek’s second book project in India. The photographs were taken in the years 2013-2014. Unlike As Through Glass, here Jeziorek became the originator, creator and producer of the publications. The axis of the project was the start of India’s Mars Orbiter Mission. Jeziorek took the photos in New Delhi area during the probe’s journey from the Indian cosmodrome to Mars orbit. As the photographer said:
I realised that Mars was my key to understanding that country. A frequent statement among tourists, especially from our culture, is that they feel like they are on a foreign planet there. Indeed, there is a certain problem with finding yourself in such a – at first glance – crazy and surprising place. Disorientation gets to everyone. The aim of the book is, first of all, to convey this impression. It is a visual story about the lack of contexts and the creation of new, not necessarily true ones. There is also a small battle with stereotypes about India. I tried to make the book multi-dimensional. It’s very easy to read, you can flip through it. But when you decide to pause at a given moment, the real fun begins.
The book received an honourable mention in the Photographic Publication of the Year 2015 competition and won the Grand Press Photo competition in the Book of the Year category.
In 2018, Jeziorek received a second scholarship from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. Thanks to this, he is working on a project titled Message in Mumbai and New Delhi, inspired by a sixteenth-century letter from India written by Krzysztof Pawłowski.
Jeziorek has been associated with the Forum Polish Agency of Photographers since 2002 and became the chief photographer in 2016. He is also a member of ZPAF and Press Club Polska.
Originally written in Polish by Joanna Kinowska, August 2018, translated into English by PG, September 2019