“I keep blooming instead of picking” – original photo reportage, 2021
As our planet is now more than ever at the center of the global agenda, in my photo reportage I have addressed the topic of the relationship between humans and nature in the context of the rebirth of life after a catastrophe. The series of photographs is a visual manifesto entitled “I continue to bloom instead of withering” – a story about fragility, hope, and the constant process of growth despite destruction.
I took the photos in the middle of a burnt forest, in a setting that stuck in my memory—burnt pine and birch trees covered in soot amid the living biome of Kampinos. In this symbolic space, the model became the only element that “blooms”—literally and figuratively. Dressed in eco-friendly outfits, she was the embodiment of delicacy, life, and coexistence with nature.
Plants, flowers, and mushrooms were stuck to her skin—her face, hands, and arms—creating an organic ornament. The second concept also featured a hat made of a mass inspired by the shape of a toadstool. The model became a living plant statue—a symbol of rebirth and the interdependence of man and nature.
The photographs showed the symbiosis of man and nature as an inseparable whole – a single breathing organism. I wanted viewers to be able to find their own emotions and reflections in this figure. The presence of man in the frame was universal – it made the subject of ecology personal and emotional.
The photo reportage was intended to evoke an emotional turning point – from sadness and regret to anger, action, and hope. It was not a lamentation over loss, but an attempt to show that even from ashes, light can be created.
The project was inspired, among other things, by Iris Van Herpen's show, which poetically blurred the boundaries between heaven and earth, and the work of David LaChapelle, whose works combine hyperrealism, emotion, and spirituality.
“I am still blooming” became a metaphor for growth and courage for me – to be myself, to grow despite adversity, and not to “break” when you can simply bloom.
