Lukasz Trzcinski & Wojciech Nowicki. NEW EUROPE

New Europe has become a fact.  However, the changes it has been subject to will probably continue for many years to come. In the "New Europe" photographic project  Lukasz Trzcinski attempts to show the impact left by communism on Middle Eastern Europe.  The system had been imprinted in the landscapes, on the economy and in  human mentality.  The photographer tries to portray this New Europe through the prism of threads of local attitudes which are  steeped in history and representative of the whole region. The current reality of a given country is portrayed at the same time.  Each country is presented by a cycle of photographs.The legacy of the system has been documented for many years.  It is now clear that the relative homogeneity of the Socialist Middle Eastern  Europe is on the decline. This part of Europe is increasingly diversifying.  Therefore,  it seems best to try and describe each country with a different angle.

In his work the photographer has been experimenting with conventions and implementing varying styles. This allowed him to demonstrate that although each of the Central Eastern European countries was subject to similar historical conditioning the actual experiences of particular nations differ. This gave rise to the idea, for example, to present the portraits of young Russians who live in Estonia (this is the second and third generation of Russians born in Estonia who, in their majority, do not have Estonian nationality) in the convention of the passport type photography. On the other hand, the portraits of young Moldavian women are presented in such a way as to relate to the amateur photographs which they place on the Internet  looking for husbands (often from Western Europe). The photos of 'tuned up' cars in Serbia are a metaphor for a people whose economic aspirations are often frustrated and who find themselves living in isolation. The not always successful press advertisement add to the air of gloom.

Parallely Wojciech Nowicki has been looking at this New Europe from the point of view of a person who travels: taking the pulse of this strange organism, ascertaining the current human condition,  putting on a guise of a close neighbour, almost a fellow national of  the former subjects of the communist rule. 

In the book every author has been presenting  the story from a different angle. Unavoidably,  it so happens  that separate narratives occasionally overlap and refer to the same people, the same places and history. 

Publisher: The Imago Mundi Foundation

Partners: Malopolski Instytut Kultury, Krakowskie Biuro Festiwalowe

ISBN: 978-83-925914-1-2

Amount of pages: 46

Paper cover

Size: 27,5 cm x 37 cm

Year of publication: 2009

The project was made possible thanks to funding from the Krakow Festival Office and Malopolska Region as part of the Wartopamietac.info cultural programme coordinated by Malopolski Instytut Kultury.