Gomma Photography Grant 2021
Niewybuch
Photographer
Natalia Kepesz
Niewybuch
30 Jan, 2022
"Niewybuch" gives a insight into the world of military camps, a phenomenon that has experienced a massive influx in Poland in recent years. In addition to being taught military basics, children and young people are playfully indoctrinated in obedience, fearlessness and patriotism. Between fake blood, drill and the unreserved use of weapons, the work raises the question of the emotional effects of military education and addresses the tension between a child's search for adventure and the excesses of the Polish military cult.
About the photographer
Natalia Kepesz
The polish photographer Natalia Kepesz lives and works in Berlin. After graduating in cultural studies and art history at the Humboldt University Berlin, she studied photography at the Ostkreuzschule Berlin. She use photography as a means of self-expression –she makes pictures for herself, to identify with hidden qualities of her character, to better understand her reality, and to express her interpretation of the world around her. By photographing, she transforms her own childhood memories. Growing up was always accompanied by the urge to discover something else. Natalia Kepesz is a World Press Photo Contest 2021 Portrait Series Winner (3rd prize), winner of Portraits- Hellerau Photography Award 2021 (Residency Prize) as well of Belfast Photo Festival 2021 and Helsinki Photo Festival 2021. She is a finalist of Les Boutographies - recontres photographiques de Montpellier 2021 and of Palm Photo Prize 2021. She was shortlisted for the Loucie Foundation, Photo Taken Scholarship 2020 as well as Athens Photo Festival 2020. She placed third in the Münzenberg Forum Art Competition 2020 and was Particular Merit Mention of All About Photo Award 2021.
