LONDON.- ATLAS Gallery is soon to close the first solo show in the U.K of acclaimed Polish photographer Kacper Kowalski. The exhibition brings together works from some of Kowalski’s earliest series: Depth of Winter (2010), Toxic Beauty (2011), Side Effects (2011) and Over (2016), as well as works from his most recent and contemplative bodies of work: Arché (2021) and Event Horizon (2021).

Kacper Kowalski (b. 1977, Poland) has been observing and photographing landscapes from an aerial perspective around Gdynia, on the Baltic coast of Poland, for over 25 years. Aher working as an architect for four years, he decided to commit to his true passions - flying and photography. As a paraglider, a pilot of small aircrahs and a gyrocopter, Kowalski navigates the air to discover and document the world from above.

Kowalski has spent over 5000 hours in the air, braving any and all weather conditions. When he photographs from 150m above ground level, he finds himself in an almost meditative state. The flight is for Kowalski not only a way to capture the world beneath, but it becomes a spiritual journey that reveals universal truths about the relationship between man and nature and about the past and the present.

Working in both colour and black and white, Kowalski’s photographs offer the viewer a new interpretation of our world, revealing perspectives of landscapes that are inaccessible to most of us. Black tyre tracks in the white snow, birds flying above a darkened body of turquoise water, dense forests covered with the year’s first snow, dried and cracked lands, or shimmering structures of ice, his abstract photographs ohen look more like paintings than photographs and immerse us in a universe defined by forms, shapes and patterns.

Kowalski's photographs ohen show signs of human life, reminding us of our own presence in the world and the impact that we have on it. In Toxic Beauty, as the name implies, Kowalski sets out to find beauty in what shouldn’t be considered beautiful; pollution, deforestation and environmental degredation. From his high vantage point he is able to document for instance the impact of sulfur and nitrogen power plants and mines imprinted on the landscapes. The results are arresting.

Through his magnetic compositions, he simultaneoulsy seduces the viewer with their natural beauty and at the same time raises questions about our civilisation and the very essential relationship between man and nature. Kowalski continues to explore the complicated relationship between humans and nature in Side Effects. In this parallel body of work he is on “a mission to reveal the unknown, unseen world to people, to record a portrait of civilisation”.

In his most recent projects, Arché (2021) and Event Horizon (2021) Kowalski dives back into the depth of winter, setting out on a meditative journey, photographing winter phenomena. When lakes freeze in the winter, bubbles of methane are trapped in the water, as the temperatures warm. The methane is released and it pierces through the thin sheets of ice. Kowalski photographs this spectacle and the incredible shapes and forms that are created as a result, changing the landscape before his eyes. These icy silhouettes are elusive, transforming and disappearing from one moment to the next, almost mythological, and only to be captured through Kowalski’s lens.

Kowalski has a unique approach to documenting the world surrounding and above us, which we so ohen take for granted, and grounds us in its elegance and beauty. The landscapes he chooses to see and capture on camera are an emotional exploration in the form of abstract works of art that are only achievable from his studio in the sky.

“With the onset of winter, I embarked on a journey in search of harmony.
Driven by instinct, I ventured further and further, until I reached the limits of rationality.” - Kacper Kowalski

Kowalski has received numerous awards, including the Sony World Photography Awards (2023), the World Press Photo Award, the Picture of the Year International POYi award to name a few. He has published multiple books, Side Effects (2014), Over (2017), Arché (2021) and his most recent Event Horizon (2022). His works have been exhibited in group and solo exhibitions internationally in France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Italy, Poland and in the United States.

ATLAS Gallery
Kacper Kowalski: A Sense of Perspective
January 26th - March 16th, 2024