PHOTOPAUL

- ongoing Project -

e-mail me please, if you like to participate.

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Since the PiS party became the sole governing body in Poland, the country has dangerously transformed into a hostile environment towards Europe, migrants, women, and members of the LGBTQ+ community. 

This hostile rhetoric, fueled by the ruling party's homophobic stance, has resulted in LGBTQ+ individuals experiencing widespread animosity throughout the country. 

As of August 2019, approximately 30 different municipalities and districts in Poland had been declared "LGBT ideology-free zones," and it wasn't until 2021 that four out of five voivodships withdrew the measures due to financial pressure from the EU commissions.

Jarosław Kaczyński, the leader of the PiS, criticized the 2019 pro-LGBTQ+ declaration made by the mayor of Warsaw as an "attack on family and children," and described the LGBTQ+ movement as an "imported" ideology. 
During his presidential election campaign, Polish President Andrzej Duda referred to the LGBTQ+ community as an ideology that is more destructive than communism, rather than as people.

This is where my work comes in. 
I aim to portray members of the LGBTQ+ community as normal people, rather than as an ideology, by showcasing them in their natural settings, their homes, their safe-space. 
With the help of their personal belongings and interior, I create images that tell a story of who they are and capture the viewer's attention. 

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My project began during the 2020 lockdown and has continued since then, resulting in a total of 141 portraits by the end of 2022. 

My motto for the project is "Human is Human" and "Love is Love."

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always up to date: Instagram @not_an_ideology

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Since 2022 the project is funded by VG Bildkunst. 

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To keep the Project alive, feel free to donate and support my journeys to Poland.