NO ONE knows where they are or what they were used for. One photographer has created a stunning series of pictures of secret abandoned palaces.
THEY’RE the ghostly relics of a more opulent age.
Photographer and former history teacher Patrycja Makowska has given Poland’s crumbling palaces a new lease on life with a stunning series of photographs that shine a light on their fading glory. Ms Makowska told news.com.au she started taking pictures 12 years ago after visiting the ruins of a medieval castle. She now works in IT for an international company but loves to photograph the magic in “forgotten places” which she discovered while living in Iceland and the UK. “The most important inspiration for me to take pictures of abandoned places is a need for identities, metaphors of life ... We forget that everything passes. Our youth [and] health are fleeting, like the places that were once beautiful.” She keeps the location of her photographs secret, believing that as the places are destroyed and devastated, it’s better for them to remain forgotten. “The location of these places is hard work,” she said, with research involving maps, historical books and guides to the area. She also speaks to those that live in the area to build up a picture of what the buildings would have been like before their crumbling walls were covered with graffiti or ruined by weather. Ms Makowska said photography has always been a passion of hers but she never thought her pictures would be published and viewed around the world. “I believe that if my work will appeal to even one person it is worth it. I do not do anything for the audience, I am doing it ... how I see it.” Her camera is six years old and she still uses a few lenses and manual production equipment left over from the Soviet Union. She now dreams of travelling to Iceland and photographing people. Pictures republished with permission of the photographer. See her full profile here on Deviant Art.
