2015 International Photography Awards has announced the winners of the Competition. This year, IPA received over 27,000 submissions from 104 countries across the globe and Dorota Kaszuba was awarded the second place in the “People: Wedding” category and a Honorable Mention in the “Wedding” category for the series “Brides in cars”.
Michal Warda was awarded a Honorable Mention in the “People: Portrait and People: Wedding” category!
Dorota’s Awarded story here.
Dorota’s Honorable Mention here.
Michal’s Honorable Mention Wedding & Portrait
Photography bears a certain resemblance to music. We can play familiar notes or each time – rather like a seasoned musician – re-discover plans, compositions and revel in doing so. Photographers we’ve met during our workshops often ask us the same question – what’s kept us afloat for such a long time? What makes us go to the shooting every weekend? What – colloquially speaking – still makes us tick?
The answer is quite simple – we don’t think we’re wedding photographers. We don’t throw ourselves into a sack labelled ‘wedding photos’.
Each and every time we try to re-discover the routine of a wedding day and get excited about tiny fleeting moments. We play with the form, the frame, the light. We experiment with new means of expression, each and every time surprising ourselves and – by photographing their wedding day in a unique way – delivering satisfaction to the newlyweds. Some elements are constant and they define the WhiteSmoke Studio but each and every time we try to look at a wedding in a novel and original way.
We sometimes send our photographs to contests dedicated to wedding photography. It’s a kind of test. We check what gets the industry’s approval and what doesn’t. More and more often we see that wedding photography is not immune to fashion and trends. It’s often a concept of a frame or a place – rather than a genuine story – that is encouraged. What’s interesting today tomorrow might be seen as the proverbial little column in a studio. You have to skilfully balance between kitsch, fashion, architecture and the simple tasteful reportage. Or simply remain faithful to what you can do best. In our case it’s the reportage. We don’t try to conceal playing with the light or making references to contemporary document makers. One thing remains constant – people in our photos are always authentic.
We haven’t been sending our photos to serious contests. After all, we don’t go to war zones, we don’t deal with difficult social issues. We photograph simple people in ordinary, everyday situations on their special day.So little. So much. Does it mean that such photography is worse than one based on this world’s serious matters? We don’t think so. Each and every photo has a role to play. Our photos have one, too. However, it’s sometimes a good idea to put them side by side with photographs from other areas. This year’s IPA was such a competition for us. Plenty of photographers, different categories. From advertising through beauty to architecture or social matters and news. Among all those there were also our categories – portrait and wedding.
We sent our submission almost at the deadline, in between trips. We sent what’s characteristic for each of us. And this is why we’re so glad those particular photos got noticed. Perhaps we didn’t get the top places in the main categories but participating in the competition gave us an interesting perspective of our work and plenty of motivation for the winter. Dorota took the second place in a category that’s important for us and Michal got an honorable mention in the category of portrait, which we’ve been involved with for a very long time.
