Poland Part 1

Hey all!

I know it has been a while since my last post but be sure things are going to change. I have been super busy the last few weeks preparing for my summer which has landed me in Poland until June 4th. I am in Europe doing a photojournalism course with five others under the direction of freelance Photojournalist and Iowa State University Professor Dennis Chamberlain. (Our group with Dennis at the lead; below)

The goal of the next few weeks is to explore, through photography, interviews, and videos, how Democracy has effected the people and culture of Poland, since the country's transition from communism in the late 80s, early 90s. Dennis does great work and has a wealth of experience, with photos in National Geographic and Time among others. This career experience, a pulitzer prize in his early 20s, plus 15 years of residence in Poland, makes him an outstanding director. I will be traveling around the country for the next few weeks and will be shooting daily. Keep an eye on my blog for frequent updates. I will try to make daily posts, however I cannot be sure of internet access at all times.

We arrived in Poland on May 14th in Gdansk. From here we traveled to Sopot where our hotel was located. Below is a view from the entrance way. In the distance is the Baltic Sea, as Sopot is all the way North in Poland.

Our plan is to stay in Sopot for a few days and work with the Photography school that Dennis used to teach at (Shown below).

Over the last couple days we visited the neighboring town of Gdansk which had some beautiful architecture. We stopped at the Solidarity Museum, which focused on the Solidarity movements of the 70s and 80s that brought the Polish people out of a repressive, Soviet-imposed communist system. Below are a few highlights of these first three days.

(Sopot)

(Sopot)

(Sopot)

(Gdansk)

(Gdansk)

(Gdansk)

(Gdansk)

(Gdansk)

(Gdansk) -- This man was selling flowers and I ended up buying some for the girls since he was kind enough to let me take some pictures of him. The flowers smelled great and he had such a deep stare!

(Sopot) -- This man was playing some Polish blues and after I tossed him a few Zloty for letting me snap some photos, I found out he spoke english since he spent some time in England.

Ill be updating soon! Dobranoc!

-P.