Natalia Poniatowska employs photography to convey the emotions, truths and challenges of modern reality

Natalia was 13 when she first picked up a camera. A friend from primary school had talked her into trying a regular photography class at a local youth centre (in Bytom, Poland) – the friend stayed two weeks, Natalia for five years. The course focused on film photography, so she dug out an old Zenith 12xp from her grandparent’s basement and taught herself how to use it. “The smell of a darkroom, the first artistic community I belonged to, capturing moments – I don’t know exactly what it was that I fell in love with, and even though it all started 12 years ago, I’m still just as passionate about photography,” Natalia tells us.

“I am an observer”, offers Natalia, “I believe in the power of images to convey the emotions, truths and challenges of modern reality. My approach to picture making is to present ordinary, non-idealised, never staged reality.” The resulting work, grounded in an authentic interest in “things as they are” and using only one lens, succeeds by elevating the seemingly banal to the sublime. Largely shot in black and white, her photographs occupy the space between fine art and documentary, and are nostalgic and sentimental, without ever seeming cliché or saccharine.

Despite drawing inspiration from almost everything, from “my observations and feelings towards probably everything I’ve ever seen, every exhibition I’ve attended, every book I’ve read, the conversations I’ve had”, she kept coming back to her feelings of homesickness for Poland, or so she thought. Returning to Glasgow from trips visiting family, she assumed the melancholic tug she felt to be a longing to go home, but as she processed the rolls of film she’d shot, she also processed her own emotions. “Photography definitely helped me to understand and capture my feelings” Natalia explains, “Now, I understand I’m not homesick for being in Poland or with my family, but I’m longing for my childhood, for careless days, living by moments, someone taking care of me, the safe bubble I felt when I was being a child and teenager in Poland.”

INT: Can you describe a project you’re most proud of and why?

NP: To support my studies (I never managed to get a student loan), I was working as a commercial photographer – shooting events, weddings, birthday parties, cake smashes (if you have never heard of it please google, it’s a very strange idea, and it never works as well as it looks on google pictures so imagine the mess).

I heard some people saying that an artist shouldn’t work as a commercial photographer because it’s going to influence the artwork. I disagree as I was super happy to work within my medium. Celebration is a project that came to life naturally or even surprisingly during my third-year of study at the Glasgow School of Art, when I was at my busiest with events. I had no time to make a project for a group exhibition. Instead, I thought I would search through my hard drive of commercial shots and try to find at least one good picture I could print for the show. When searching for that one photograph, I noticed something quite interesting. I was capturing moments that were not really about celebrating the events themselves. The function room corners, where no one was dancing became almost like empty theatre sets and the feeling that if I just slightly moved my camera I would capture a big group of people dancing or eating, was something that fascinated me about photography.

The ability to present the situation within one frame, with no sound, with no description of what’s happening next to it. Just one frame, for the viewer’s imagination, to make a story of the moment. I noticed it particularly while taking pictures of kids during these big events, like the photographs of a girl lying down next to the buffet – taken on her parent’s wedding renewal. These photographs were not showing kids having fun or dancing, but escaping into their own fantasy, being carefree, doing whatever they wanted to do.

INT: Is there a particular person who has shaped your university experience or creative outlook?

NP: Thomas Joshua Cooper. He wasn’t my tutor but I always jumped on him while walking to my studio on those days when I had doubts about my project, or photography in general. He gave me a high-five and with a smile said “you should trust your work”, and this one sentence gave me more than hours of tutorials.

At first, I was quite sceptical, of course – “thanks for the advice, easy for you to say!” – but then I knew it was the case. A few times it was exactly what I needed, a bit more confidence and trust in my photographs that they can speak for themselves. I guess being surrounded by other students who have done amazing sculptures, installations or designed something useful or beautiful, sometimes I thought “I’m just taking pictures” and felt a bit down. Thomas helped me just with a few words. My first-year tutor Michael Mersinis also helped me a lot, but with many, many words and long conversations introducing me to the contemporary photography world. Both Thomas and Michael are amazing artists and very positive people with lots of passion to share.