Pabianice: An Abandoned Town
My Photographic practice has included a range of genres including portraiture, architecture and street photography. Photography allows us to go back in time to reflect on associated memories and histories. My current project explores abandoned fleeting buildings and I want the viewer to go back in time and visit these spaces with me.
I have always had a fascination with abandoned places, wanting to reveal their secrets. I started with an abandoned mosque opposite my house in my hometown. This project examines Pabianice, a town in central Poland near the industrial city of Lódz. Pabianice has a rich history, different cultures and religions met there, giving it the name the “city of three nations” – In the 19th century the town flour-ished thanks to the weaving and cotton industry. Today most of these factories have been closed or demolished. My photographs depict various buildings from different eras of the town. From a shelter hidden under a German agricultural machinery factory, Rudolf Kindler’s hospital converted into a school, to a man-sion, horse racing track and an abandoned 1990’s holiday resort.
I want to present how abandoned places, despite not being used by people, live their own lives. Focusing on traces of human occupation in colours, textures and details of, walls, floors and objects left inside, the viewer gets to explore these spaces as I did. Alongside four large images of each building, I present objects and details found within. I want to give the viewer an experience of ‘being’ in this town and feeling the ambience of these space.
Pabianice: Tref Adawedig
Mae f’arfer Ffotograffaidd wedi cynnwys ystod o ddulliau gan gynnwys portreadau, pensaernïaeth a ffotograffiaeth stryd. Mae ffotograffiaeth yn gadael i ni fynd yn ôl mewn amser i fyfyrio ar atgofion a hanesion cysylltiedig. Mae fy mhrosiect presennol yn archwilio adeiladau gadawedig ac rwyf eisiau i’r gwyliwr fynd yn ôl mewn amser ac ymweld â’r lleoedd hyn gyda mi.
Rwy wedi fy nghyfareddu erioed gan leoedd gadawedig, eisiau datgelu eu cyfrinachau. Dechreuais gyda mosg gadawedig gyferbyn â’m tŷ yn fy nhref enedigol. Mae’r prosiect hwn yn edrych ar Pabianice, tref yng nghanol Gwlad Pŵyl ger dinas ddiwydiannol Lódz. Mae gan Pabianice hanes cyfoethog, cyfarfu diwylliannau a chrefyddau yno, gan roi iddi’r enw “dinas tair cenedl”. Yn y 19eg canrif, ffynodd y dref diolch i’r diwydiant gwehyddu a chotwm. Heddiw mae’r mwyafrif o’r ffatrïau hyn wedi eu cau neu eu dymchwel. Mae fy lluniau’n dangos gwahanol adeiladau o wahanol oesedd y dref. O loches ynghudd o dan ffatri peiriannau amaethyddol Almeinig, ysbyty Rudolf Kindler a droswyd yn ysgol, i blasty, trac rasio ceffylau a chyrchfan gwyliau gadawedig y 1990au.
Rwy am gyflwyno sut mae mannau gadawedig, er peidio â chael eu defnyddio gan bobl, yn byw eu bywydau eu hun. Drwy ganolbwyntio ar olion defnydd dynol mewn lliwiau, gweadau a manylion muriau, lloriau a gwrthrychau sydd wedi’u gadael tu mewn, mae’r gwyliwr yn cael archwilio’r mannau hyn fel y gwnes i. Ochr yn ochr â phedair delwedd fawr o bob adeilad, rwy’n cyflwyno gwrthrychau a manylion a welwyd tu mewn. Rwy eisiau rhoi i’r gwyliwr y profiad o ‘fod’ yn y dref yma a theimlo amgylchedd y mannau hyn.
