Maciej Korsan

Supraska Misja Specjalna

photography workshops in Supraśl and the closing exhibition

  • exhibition,
  • photography,
  • workshop

In spring 2011 I was one of fifteen “agents” in Supraska Misja Specjalna (Supraśl Special Mission), a series of photography workshops in the small town of Supraśl, near Białystok, that ended with an exhibition of the participants’ work.

Agents and missions

The project was run by Piotr Ejsmont together with Elżbieta Półkośnik of the Supraśl public library. Participants were agents and homework was a mission. To apply you had to be over 18, own a digital camera with manual modes and send in five of your own photos. On 28 March 2011 a jury of four photographers from Białostocka Grupa Fotograficzna, two women and two men, plus the coordinator picked fifteen agents and three reserves.

From 1 to 16 April we met on Fridays for theory at the library and on Saturdays for shoots around Supraśl, with the BGF photographers reviewing our pictures after each mission. One of them, “Supraskie KOLORado”, took place on 2 April. A week later the outdoor portrait mission got rained off, so we moved into Dom Tkacza on 3 Maja Street and practised with different lenses, angles and light instead.

Exhibition

The workshops closed with an exhibition at the library on Piłsudskiego 1, opening on Saturday 7 May 2011 at 4 pm. The organisers had promised large-format prints from every agent, hung among the bookshelves.

The project was funded by the Polish-American Freedom Foundation through the Library Development Programme and was part of “Młodzi menedżerowie kultury w bibliotekach” (Young Culture Managers in Libraries), a programme of the “ę” Creative Initiatives Association.

Sources