“The Baltic. On the Other Side.” is my original photographic project dedicated to the Baltic Sea and its many faces – landscapes, architecture, people, and their relationship with the sea. It encompasses all the countries bordering the Baltic, aiming to capture both their shared characteristics and their local distinctiveness.
The idea for this project was born in childhood, when looking at the endless horizon where the sea meets the sky sparked a childlike curiosity and the question: what lies beyond? What’s on the other shore?
Looking “to the other side” reveals that what may be ordinary to some can seem exotic, surprising, or completely unfamiliar to others. Just as any of us may have simplified ideas about life by the sea in Finland, Poland, or Denmark, so too might people from other countries look at their neighbors’ coasts with distance or curiosity. How much do we share, and how much sets us apart? Is the Baltic a boundary, or rather a common space?
In 2024, the project was awarded a grant from the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, which allowed me to fully dedicate myself to photographing and documenting life along the Polish Baltic coast – in its natural, social, and cultural dimensions.
I photographed the natural environment, the built landscape, and the many ways people interact with and rely on the sea. For some, it is a workplace; for others, a place of rest. I met fishermen, scientists, residents of small seaside towns, and tourists returning to places they’ve known for decades. I joined the crew of the research vessel Oceanograf, documented the intensity of the summer season, and the emptiness of the coast in the off-season.
The result of this multifaceted journey is a collection of photographs that portray contemporary life along the Baltic Sea – in its many forms and contexts. It is an attempt to create a portrait of people living in synergy with the sea: a sea that unites and divides, that inspires, sustains, and at times, tests us.