Photograph your past in the present // NOSTALGIA ON FILM
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- Опубликовано: 10 фев 2023
- Returning home. It's been almost 10 years since I visited this place that once was something like home to me. I visited this rural area in Poland multiple times a year as a child and teen since a large part of my family lived there. Somehow I stopped coming when I turned 18. After this long time I finally decided to go back there and revisit all the emotional places that mean something to me. And of course: there is no better way to process feelings and emotions than through a creative process, in my case with a camera as my companion.
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I believe that we, photographers, are here to document our world. Sure we may have other interests like landscape or sports, but our calling is to document our world a moment of our world. Even better if you can “go back in time” as it were to draw out your own memories. Where I grew up is no longer anything like that, so that is not available to me. Live it while you can and it’s quite alright if it only has meaning for you.
I could not agree more! And I think it's a search find what documentation of the world truly matters to us. Actually, many of the places I wanted to revisit were not there anymore either as for example my grandmother's house. But standing at the spot where it once was, moved me nonetheless - so I can relate to your situation.
Calvin Chann your post absolutely nailed it. I totally agree 👍🏻
Life compels me to document and photograph. To capture a feeling of awe or just to capture a feeling that someone else would draw from the photo is surreal to me.
Our memories are like a fantastic hot dish of soup, or any other comfort food, warms our mind and soul. And, like happens when we caught a smell in the air that, suddenly and unexpectedly, brings us long forgotten memories, image is the record of someone's memories per excellence and the photographer's role is a invaluable contribution to us, our families and society in general. Thanks to my Grandfather today our family enjoys a huge wealth of photographs and 8mm films, where we "meet" or remember our family members, environments and experiences, impossible to achieve if those films and photos don't exist. They allowed me to know my mother, not as a mother, but as a naughty and vivacious child, or my very young fathers on one of theirs first datings Those movies allowed a cousin's daughter, when I discovered her after 30 years missing, to meet for the first time, her father, grandparents and great-grandparents, interacting with her as a baby, on a familie color movie. Photography is an invaluable value, and so is our role. Karen, it's a very beautiful video, thanks
Very very well written, I could not agree more. Photography is a time-space-paradox and probably the closest thing we have to time traveling right now. Shortly after our trip, we also browsed through old photos my parents still had. It was crazy to see my parents at the same age I currently am and see completely different, yet still the same people. Thanks so much for your comment and for sharing your own experiences, I appreciate it a lot!
..würde sogar sagen, es sollten mehr Videos dieser Art sein...!!! 👏 👌 😊
Ganz ehrlich, ich find das ist Dein bestes Video bis jetzt. Ich kann mich dem auch ganz gut verbunden fühlen. Ich bin zwar in der DDR aufgewachsen und das war natürlich anders als Polen vor 10/20 Jahren, aber die Orte, sind familiär.
Abgesehen davon ist es ja Deine Erfahrungswelt, sich hier einfach wiederspigelt. Und die Nähe die Du für uns Zuschauer erlaubst ist wirklich toll!
Danke Dir dafür
Das was man hier heute sieht, ist m. E. der wesentliche Kern, die Essenz von Fotografie: das Festhalten von Erinnerungen mit Licht. Die Dokumentation des Lebens, des Alltags…losgelöst von Regeln, Vorgaben oder technischem Schnickschnack. Danke dafür…
Sehr schön gesagt - vielen Dank für den Kommentar! :)
These images are as interesting as it gets, because they have a story, a feeling. I don't know the "random house" but I can feel it, and that what makes these images touching and amazing in a pure way. It's not the over poilshed "eye catching" but super boring Instagram look, and thank god for that :) This video is really special, thank you for sharing it with us.
My favorite video of yours yet, precisely because it was so personal and nostalgic. Having spent a lot of my childhood in a tiny town in the countryside of France, your experience resonates a lot with me. Some things change, some things stay the same, sometimes it’s hard to place your memories in those changed spaces. The pictures also turned out wonderful! Thank you for sharing 🌱
This is, by far, my favorite video of yours so far (and I’ve enjoyed your previous work!). It’s very filmic, thoughtful, and, above all, deeply personal. I very much believe that, in art, the personal is the only true universal. When we get too “in our heads” thinking about what others will like or find meaningful, we too often make choices that favor the vague, the general, and the generic. This video is grounded by your humanity, so while I didn’t spend any of my childhood in Poland - and sadly have never even been to Poland - this is work I can connect to on a very basic, very fundamental, and very human level.
That was spectacular. Especially liked the night photos.
Karin, this might well be your best work yet. The mystery of the inner connections and memories are the very things that make these shots powerful and appealing to everyone. Beautiful, haunting, and mysterious are wonderful qualities that come through in virtually every image you captured here. I especially love that you don't explain or define. Beautiful, beautiful work, my friend! Andy
Thank you so much for your kind words Andy, I appreciate it a lot! I am rather overwhelmed by all the kind feedback since I did not expect this personal experience might actually resonate to people.
@@KarinMajoka You should be a little overwhelmed - the reactions from all are heartfelt and reflect the impact photographs can have on others. Your photos (and the video) are the very definition of evocative. We never know what memories and thoughts our images may trigger, but clearly these hit a spot with many of your followers. I think you know how much I generally admire your work, and your personality, but these are just "WOW!" Andy
I really enjoyed this video. The power of photography that you can use to explore memories, the past, and your inner self. Also I think that I can see in the way you portraited this place that it really means something for you.
i've been following your channel for a while now. first of all, congratulations that your posts stand out (most of the time) from the rest of the photo/analogue photography scene. i like your unagitated and unpretentious way of showing your world of photography.
your contribution about your nostalgic journey to the place of your childhood has produced, for my taste, your best photos so far. in any case, i think i can recognise your connection to this place in your photos.
i look forward to more...
Very nostalgic video with great pictures Karin…lots of memories! Thanks for sharing. Be safe, Cheers..
That's a great video! Have you been watching Terrence Malick's films? 😉 And as a Polish person living abroad, I immediately felt like I was transported to the village I grew up in, the landscape, the buildings, the language... Thanks for it, great job!
GREAT video, Karin!
I'm paraphrasing - you said that this was personal and might not be appealing to others. I think it is pretty universal. Human experience is quite similar all over the Western world. We all have much in common.
I have similar connections to the places of my youth. The places you show aren't that different from rural communities in the Southern Piedmont region of North and South Carolina, here in the USA.
I have hundreds of photos that take me back to my childhood. Eight years ago, our family moved to the area where I spent ages 5-12. I had not returned in 47 years. It felt eerily the same and different. Even the house I grew up in looks the same as it did in 1960. The city has grown, but the feel is similar. Seeing my boys play soccer (futbol) in the same stadium where I saw my first high school football game in 1962 was bizarre.
So if photos help you connect with your past, know that they remind others of theirs! I recently assembled a 45 minute video "slide show" of still images from my college days. Our class reunion committee collected over 800 old photos from classmates. I digitized them from slides, negatives, and prints, converted them to 4K, and assembled them into a retrospective shown at our 45th year college reunion party. The response was overwhelming.
What a lovely comment, thanks so much! And yes, I think you are right about the fact that the nostalgia about certain places might in fact be universal. Thanks for sharing your story as well, sounds like you put a lot of time and labour into digitising all those ones - but I see it was more than worth it.
UFF!! Woowww!! Ein sehr schönes, starkes und auch berührendes Video... Mich hat es mitgenommen... Meine Frau stammt aus einer Kleinstadt in Schlesien, Haben vor 7Jahren einmal eine Reise zur ihren Wurzeln gemacht, in der Sie mir ihre Ecken ihrer Kindheit gezeigt hat, wo Sie die ersten 6Jahren ihres Lebens verbracht hat... Für mich ein Kulturschock aber auch sehr schön gewesen. Die Landschaft, die Menschen, die Herzlichkeit, die Wir überall erfahren haben und auch das Essen... Hat auch mich sehr mitgenommen damals... Schade, dass ich damals noch nicht fotografiert^^, sondern nur mit dem Handy geknipst^^ habe... Werde ich bei der nächsten Reise definitiv anders machen...
Vielen Dank für deinen Kommentar und das Teilen deiner persönlichen Erfahrung, weiß ich sehr zu schätzen!
Thank you for sharing your very personal trip to your childhood home with us.
I hope your family enjoy your story telling, both in words and images, of what these particular places and associated memories mean to you :)
U inspired me to go out to take pictures of my childhood area, schools and favourite hunts. Thanks so much.
So cool to hear the video inspired you to re-explore your childhood yourself. :)
Wonderful video, even showing things, that are just personal to you and not others … but it’s a great inspiration to do the same. I lived in my hometown in Germany for 40 years of my life and moved to Japan then. Things, which have been simply normal for such a long time, became nostalgic now, when we are far away. So yes, I also suddenly started photographing just very ordinary things when I visited Germany the last time 12 years ago, things I would have never photographed when still living there.
Wow, what an interesting story, thanks for sharing your own experience! Must have been intense to return after 12 years, especially since the cultural gap between Germany and Japan is most likely even bigger than between countries within Europe.
the real power of phototraphy
This was really lovely to watch Karin, really nice photos and the idea behind it is so relatable. You will be so glad you made this in years to come.
Absolut große Kunst. Man spürt die Emotionen die in dieses Video geflossen sind. Der Prolog war der Hammer. Ganz ganz tolle Arbeit. 👍
Vielen Dank für deinen Kommentar, das bedeutet mir wirklich viel!
Lovely video! I hope there will be a part 2. My family is from Zarki, Poland.
Wow was so surprised to hear Polish! About one thing I can assure you: for some people around your age watching this - especially from Poland - seeing those trees, grasslands, lakes, neglected buildings and vehicles, it is like a trip to childhood. Certainly, it is for me. Thanks for that!
Thank you so much for your moving comment, this means a lot! Poland truly is beautiful and it will forever have a special place in my heart. Even if the places themselves might not mean anything to other people, I surely hope the video evoked some sort of emotion regarding one's own "home".
7:48 the elephant comes in
Jokes aside I really loved this video, thank you for sharing it with us. It makes me even sad since the majority of the places or my childhood are not existing anymore in the way they were. There’s something totally different there 😢
Its a great video, with great pictures, and its all better with a story :) great work Karin
you triggered a nostalgia in my head and I loved the way you made this video! thanks a lot! dziekuje :)
Returning to the place you called home after so long is such a confusing and alienating experience. Sometimes it feels like stepping into a time capsule and seeing things be exactly how they were as you left them, or close to it, is such a surreal feeling. It's like you've grown and you've changed so much that you almost feel like a completely different person and then suddenly you're back in the old room you stayed in, or on the same land you used to play in and explore as a kid, and you realized that it's still in you and there are parts of you that will never change. It's a very humanizing and humbling moment. I'm so glad you shared this with us because it's made me want to conquer my fear of photographing my old childhood home as I haven't lived in there for 15+ years and new people have moved in.
Very well said, I totally agree. I understand your fear of returning, it's a very emotional process and I think we have to somehow be "ready" for it. But once it's time, I think it's absolutely worth it to go through the rollercoaster of emotions. Thanks for your comment, I appreciate it a lot!
Thanks for sharing, nice video and beautiful surounding to spend some time. I am thinking of a road trip later this year to Lithuania, didn't know yet which route to take, either along the coast (so Gdansk is in the route) or more through the country. No idea what to expect in Poland, but this looks nice. Green and natural.
Last year I bought a huge crate with cameras - more or less 100 - for €100. In it was the same Druh that you have :)
That molecule on your foot, is it hydrochinon or p-aminophenol by the way? 😆
So so so beautiful. Thank you for sharing.
Really enjoyed this Karin. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks so much, I appreciate it a lot!
Ok, aż musiałem dwa razy sprawdzić czy nie włączyło mi się wideo z tle jak usłyszałem język polski :) Super film, nie wiedziałem, że masz polskie korzenie :)
Dziękuję za komentarz, bardzo się z tego cieszę! Mój polski jest trochę zardzewiały, ale staram się ćwiczyć :)
ja tak samo myslalem, ze cos w tle gra :)
I think it’s interesting, but I also grew up in the woods and moved away, and things have changed at “home” so… this was very relatable content for me ♥️
Thank you for sharing with us your personal story. There are many reasons to take pictures. Sometimes it is for money or fame. See my pictures how pretty they are, see how they tell a story, see I have created meaning for you. But in the end we take pictures for ourselves. We capture moments that have meaning to us. At there best we look at a photo that we have taken and we hope that it can take it back to the time when it was taken. Perhaps we will be able to recapture our thoughts and feelings from the time when we shot it. Sometimes we take a photo with the purpose of recognizing how important the past was to us. I do not wish to sound cliche, but many of our photos are taken to create a record, a memory of something. And no matter what our photos mean to others, the real meanings are often quite personal. Whether we recognize it or not, we as photographers are in the business of exposing our way seeing to others. Sometimes the aesthetic gets in the way of what we are hoping to express.
It is a pleasure to participate in your journey. Keep it up.
Thanks for your comment, I agree to this on so many levels. While it's (of course) okay to take photos for external validation of some sorts, I think in the end those kind of images feel superficial und impersonal rather quickly. So taking photos out of internal motivation is what really makes me content with my photography.
Probably your best work. The pictures maybee look not spectacular but with your voice and the whole story you are telling they transport a ton of emotions 👍🏻 very well done
Thank you! I am glad to hear the emotions I felt actually transport through the video.
@@KarinMajoka Yes, they do !
Wow. Well done video. The pictures are beautiful!
Thank you, I appreciate it!
very cool... especially enjoyed the out-of-focus blur sequences.
Many thanks for your sharing!
I love this. Thank you for sharing that with us.
Thanks for your comment. :)
Some great photos! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for your comment!
What interesting video and such interesting and haunting images. They are meaningful for me because they reflect your history and connection to a special place. And the older we get, the more meaningful those places become.
Yes, I totally agree. Thank you so much for the comment!
Echt Coole Video, für mich deine beste. Sehr schön gedreht.
One of your best videos.
Thank you 🤍
truly beautiful post
Excellent video, congrats.
Thanks!
I absolutely loved this video Karin, it really resonated with my own experiences as a photographer. I return to my hometown about twice a year, and usually I don't go with the intention to photograph, but the last 2 times I've been home I've felt myself overcome by the urge to document the old places as they have already started to change quite a bit. I feel my mind racing, full of so many thoughts about the importance of these places, why they've suddenly started impacting me emotionally, why I need to capture them, wondering if anyone else will care. When you were expressing your thoughts, and the words were spilling out of you so fast, I thought "wow, that's exactly how I felt last time I visited". My brain was so fast my body couldn't catch up, I had trouble putting into words what I was feeling, so I just kept going out and shooting every day, some times twice a day, trying to use photography to emotions I did not have words for. Within the first minute of this video, I could tell that you were having a similar experience. Thank you for sharing!
Wow, thank you so much for your comment and for sharing your experience. I appreciate it a lot! Yes, revisiting those places can be an emotional rollercoaster. I actually only recorded these two talking takes from the video during the trip since I wanted to keep it raw and capture my first, unsorted, initial thoughts. So yeah, it was pure overload of thoughts and emotions. Crazy to see how much revisiting those places can actually trigger.
I'm going to see my family in Poland in 2 weeks ^^ Can't wait! Very close to Danzig too. Your Polish is very good btw. Also totaly agree on the concept.
How awesome - have a lovely time (and take loads of photos!). :) My polish is a bit rusty but I am working on freshening it up a lot. Thanks for your comment, I appreciate it!
This was a really touching video, keep up the work. I think it is interesting and important work too! It strange the link between photography and memory, I think that's what makes your project most interesting, at least to me. I have 2 daughters who I bring back to Ireland every summer, so I also found your experiences interesting thinking about how they will feel about places in Ireland when they grow up.
Thanks so much for your comment, I appreciate it. Yes, I totally agree. I think photography is the closest thing we have to time traveling, I think it's a time-space-paradox in and of itself. I am sure Ireland will be a special place for your daughters!
Very inspiring video! I also kind of feel the same way. I've been stuck overseas for a few years now, away from family and friends. I've been also wanting to go back, to a "familiar" place, with new perspectives, both as a person and the "perspective" from my camera (I wasn't even into photography back then!). It will be so strange to see how everything has changed, yet familiar at the same time. And also just personally being away for so long and going back as a "grown" person, makes home doesn't really feel like home anymore, even though family and friends remained the same, but you just feel like home isn't where you belong anymore. At the same time, being overseas also feel a bit alienated, as it is not where I am from. It feels like being stuck in a limbo sometimes.
Very moving comment, I can relate to it in a lot of ways. Even though I was born in Germany, I visited my family in Poland several times a year, so home always felt somewhere in-between. Thanks for your comment, I appreciate it! :)
Very moving comment, I can relate to it in a lot of ways. Even though I was born in Germany, I visited my family in Poland several times a year, so home always felt somewhere in-between. Thanks for your comment, I appreciate it! :)
filmisch wunderschön umgesetzt, danke katrin
Danke für den Kommentar! :)
Love the super wide images!
Thank you! :)
Piękny film. Pozdrowienia z Wrocławia 🙂
Dzięki bardzo i pozdrowienia z powrotem! :)
Interesting tattoo. I chuckled.
Haha, thanks!
Your vibe is great in all your videos, but this one have a little extra. I almost get curious on more story here.
In my humble opinion, of course. Keep it up :)
Thanks so much, this truly means a lot!
That's exactly what I did before moving to France in 2016. Originally from San Francisco. Really missed it there.
Thanks for sharing your story. :)
What do you use to film your videos with?
Living in Florida I don’t see myself flying to California Los Angeles
Please, if you can put your videos in Spanish, we would really appreciate it. We love your videos. Thank you
Karin and Samuel on the same Day 🤔😃
Not intentional 😬
@@KarinMajoka Its a good Thing! and your video was awsome!.
But don’t come back where you were happy.
It was a mixed bag of emotions actually. And well, duty calls.