RM: Magnum isn’t a news agency, although some of the photographers do document current events from time to time.
To answer the question more broadly, my practice is spread across two areas: documentary photography, and another kind that belongs more to the field of art. If you look at it chronologically, it’s like a sine wave with a lot of unexpected turns.
After I graduated from the graphics department of the Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice, I started working in the local branch of Gazeta Wyborcza [The Electoral News, a Polish daily newspaper]. I gave that up pretty quickly. Then, while studying at the Institute of Creative Photography in Opava, I started working a lot for the Polish press. I saw an increase in my own projects, because things were changing on the press market. As a result, I completely withdrew from that area. Over the last few years, I’ve only had a few commissions; everything else resulted from my own projects.
When I was working on the Odmowa project, my interests shifted; they became more interdisciplinary. That’s when Magnum appeared. The last two years were probably the most ‘photography-oriented’ ones of my career. I met this with a lot of enthusiasm; I was glad to get back to it. I felt that the topics I was addressing really resonated with photography. To make it more interesting, I was also working on the Drgania (Vibrations) exhibition at that time, which probably wouldn’t appeal to a photographer.
I like jumping out of my comfort zone.