I often ask myself – why do I take photos? I don’t do that for money, yet photography, though it may sound pompously, is the essence of my life. That’s why I understand Renata Dąbrowska and her huge work of taking over one hundred photographs of her namesakes, living in Poland and abroad. Why? Maybe out of curiosity, maybe for other reasons…? The successful execution of an idea of preparing a series of one hundred portraits required a long-term action plan, lots of various moves, culture, diplomatic and psychological skills to overcome fears and hesitations of people who are photographed, the fears mentioned by the photographer. The idea required determination, courage, patience and the pursuit of a precise artistic goal.
Living her life, Renata constantly looks around, absorbs everything, and is constantly curious about what can be found round the corner, over the horizon. Is it enough to call such a person just an extrovert? I guess not, and that is Renata’s phenomenon. It’s „something” more. It’s something I also understand well and appreciate. It’s the love of crazy ideas, of a risk in seemingly senseless enterprises, of plans more real in dreams than in “a sensible life”. It’s a constant search for something which cannot be described or defined. It’s an escape from depressing stabilization and its walls. It’s a little child’s eyes, constantly wide open, absorbing life greedily. This type of person isn’t often met…
In her collection, Renata showed her own identity, she showed her own portrait which combines a lot of faces, personalities and characters. It proves that reality is mostly a story about others. Listening and watching carefully, we can get out of limiting us egoistic personality and we can see ourselves.