Maciej WochPhotography
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On material, light and character

Objects have a face, too

Mud remains on the tyres. Scratches mark the metal. They do not bother me. They are what make an object distinctive. I move closer with my camera and look for light that lets us see them.

01

The setting is part of the photograph

A bicycle looks different against stacked timber than beside a church wall. An old motorcycle stands before green mountains. The setting matters: it suggests where these objects belong. But I want the eye to return to the frame, the fuel tank, the lines and textures.

Red against brick
Bicycle and timberRajskie, Bieszczady, Poland
Bicycle and historyRuins of the church in Krywe, Bieszczady, Poland
A classic outdoorsLutowiska, Bieszczady, Poland
02

Touching with your eyes

A surface catches a warm glow. Steel reveals welds, scratches and patina. In photographs like these I am interested in the almost physical sensation of an object. If looking makes you want to feel its weight or surface, the light has done its work.

Two feathersBiesCzadowa Kraina, Ustrzyki Dolne, Poland
Bórczad’s gazeBiesCzadowa Kraina, Ustrzyki Dolne, Poland
Rebelczad among the treesWetlina, Bieszczady, Poland
03

A figure has something to say

Rąbczad pauses with his saw above a log. Wędrówczad stands as if he has just finished a long story. I photograph them as I would people: looking for gesture, expression and light that reveals character. The metal remains metal. That makes the imagination behind it all the more visible.

Rąbczad at workBiesCzadowa Kraina, Ustrzyki Dolne, Poland
Wędrówczad in the lightBiesCzadowa Kraina, Ustrzyki Dolne, Poland
Light in an old roomBiesCzadowa Kraina, Ustrzyki Dolne, Poland