The Polish photographer’s mysterious works do not seek to explain themselves, but rather let the viewer explore their dreamlike world.
Titus was born in 1972 in the Polish city of Wroclaw, where he was introduced to photography shortly afterward, around the age of seven. His father bought him his first analog camera and he was immediately captivated by its magic. However, he put photography aside for a while to pursue architectural studies at a university and then he returned to his passion in 2016. In a previous interview, he explained his relationship with analog photography like this:
“Working with an analog camera is like working with a partner. I mean it has its own artistic contribution. At least the photographic film does, rather than the device itself.”
For the most part, he does not retouch his photos in editing programs but leaves them as the light has painted them. He believes in pre-processing to create an environment that suits your the artist’s concept, then letting the camera and film surprise the creator. According to him, only minor flaws should be fixed later.
His main subject is people, and his works are mostly portraits and nudes. Another protagonist of his images is usually the light itself, which illuminates the subjects from different angles and in different colors. His photographs are often reminiscent of paintings, with the quality of the light playing a major role in this effect,such as the use of chiaroscuro technique—the use of strong contrasts between light and dark—which is very characteristic of his art.
His photographs, with their mystical atmosphere, make the viewer search for some deeper meaning or explanation, but the game of Titus’ art is that his images never reveal themselves. In the movement and gaze of his figures, we can always discover some kind of event, we can feel that we are in the middle of something. But he rarely reveals more than that, leaving us in a state of suspense that can only be resolved by our own self-created explanations.
Photos: Titus Poplawski
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Source: thephoblographer