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"Disruptive patterns, retro interiors, quirky poses, cinematic atmospheres and saturated colours: that&amp;#039;s the photographer Lukasz Wierzbowski\u2019s imagery. Self-thought, Lukasz was studying dentistry and Social Psychology when he started experimenting with photography, using his nieces as his first models. His photos are now exposed around the world from New York to Moscow, Melbourne and Taipei - to name a few - and he now divides his time between Warsaw and London. He continues to visually investigate the tension between the models and their surrounding creating images that are both seductive and enigmatic, with a signature style that stems from a cross pollination between street photography, photojournalism and fashion portraiture. I reached out to ask him a few questions - and you can enjoy the selection of photos I curated for Just Another Photo Festival in the gallery above. When did you first get interested in photography and how? My father introduced me to photography when I was a kid.\u00A0 As a teenager I got fascinated with filmmaking but it did not last long. I went back to photography at university during my psychology studies. Since the studying program was quite intense, I was on the lookout for something that would allow me to clear my mind after the lectures. Taking pictures turned out to be the best escape from reality and my camera quickly became my everyday companion. It didn\u2019t take me long to realize that taking pictures was something I loved doing most. To what degree your studies/upbringing influenced the way you take pictures? I was a late bloomer so it took me a while to realize what I really wanted to do in my life. As a result, I ended studying dentistry and then social psychology.\u00A0 These studies helped me to become more confident and decisive, but also, opened this certain part of me able to notice those fleeting everyday moments that inspired me to take pictures. Where do you get your inspiration? What I am trying to capture in my photography is the essence of the design/architecture around me. Also, I am a great fan of retro interiors filled with colors and patterns, which for me personally, are of a timeless nature. I often attempt to represent the process of the constant evolution of surroundings, whether around me or my models. Which photographers would you consider your masters? Which emerging photographers&amp;#039; work you admire? I have always adored the work of William Eggleston or Wolfgang Tillmans. Missy Prince is one of my current favorites. How did your &amp;quot;way of seeing&amp;quot; change from the beginning of your career to now? Even though I feel comfortable with the style and aesthetics I have developed over the years, I\u2019m aware of the process of the constant evolution within me. I have learned to appreciate any given moment and I don\u2019t feel obliged to capture absolutely everything that happens around me, which is something I tried to achieve before. The moment of \u201Cthe now\u201D has become my new mantra, which simply leads to my going with the flow for most of the time. Do you think more in terms of single images or in stories? For me it\u2019s always been about single images. However, I am aware of the fact that often when the pictures are randomly put together they may create stories on their own. I often witness bits and pieces of potentially unrelated moments that could portray the changing reality and I capture them. Because of that, my whole portfolio may seem like a one big story of my life. What goes through your mind when you frame a picture? I simply follow my instincts as everything happens on the spot. Each session resembles a journey, both for my models and me, where we explore the space/surroundings we find ourselves in. Using films allows me to concentrate on the dynamics of the situation and helps me to avoid spending too much time in one place, which makes each frame taken special. What kind of camera do you use? What do you think of post-production? I use Contax G2, Canon Rebel K2 and Contax T2. I don\u2019t do any post-production, it just doesn&amp;#039;t work for as I want to keep everything in the purest most natural form. Can you walk me through your editing process? I just pick the scanned films from the lab and have a quick look at the results. I select the photos I find most interesting for my assignments and put the rest of them on hold. Very often photos that I rejected at first start to grow on me with time so I tend to go back to my archives regularly. My computer&amp;#039;s desktop is packed with a lot of photos. To a stranger it may seem quite chaotic but it actually helps me to create batches of photos that will be later used on my website or projects that I am involved in. Do you shoot also for private purposes? At this point it is quite difficult for me to distinguish between \u2018private\u2019 and \u2018public.\u2019 My friends and family are very often subjects of my photographs. I carry my camera with me all the time, which enables me to capture them in various situations. You simply don\u2019t know when the right moment comes. Did the impact of social media affect your work? It has had some sort of impact on me. Receiving messages from people from around the world is quite surreal. I can\u2019t believe that someone on the other side of the world might actually know me. It is truly amazing. If it affected my work in any way, it has allowed me to get involved in the projects I never dreamt of before and meet very inspiring people. However, I do not think that it has affected my shooting style or general aesthetics. What are you currently working on? Currently I\u2019m in the process of putting together my next book. In the meantime, I\u2019m working on other personal and commissioned projects, as well, as I\u2019m just enjoying my life constantly searching for yet another amazing place to shoot at."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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