One month

Tomorrow I will set off on a ‘journey’ across people and their flats. I will begin with visiting my neighbour (I will photograph her in her own flat) and then she will recommend me to her friends.
I will continue.

In my ‘journey’ and in meeting new people, I will have little influence on where I will be going to. It will be a matter of coincidence, in a form of a labyrinth. I will be actually pushed further by the people and the new places. I will ask each person to write a short note from a given day.

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I have been ‘traveling’ for some time now and it is the actual state of being ‘on the road’ to me. People guide me in my journey. Everybody describes their day to me. These are stories where nothing crucial happens. I take delight in this unforced naturalness.

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My Project is also a kind of utopia – an attempt to describe a particular period of time in the possibly most detailed way. The beginning and the end of the month. Such daily descriptions create a composition where nothing can be added or taken away.

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ONE MONTH
It’s a series of 31 black and white photographs (each in 46×46 cm format) with handwritten descriptions (each description written by the person in the photograph).

All the photographs taken between 1 – 31 January, 2003.

: I got up late as usually. I looked through the window. It was a beautiful day. After the breakfast, my husband and me went for a walk. After we came back, I prepared special holyday dinner. The optimism of this day gives me hope for the whole year 2003. – Daniela Łopuchow

: Janurary 2 passed, just as other days. I spent it at the computer. Work, entertainment, pause … for eating. The cycle goes on. Normality. – Krzysztof Kopeć

: I got up at 5.25. I had to run to get my bus, as usually. I spent my day preparing reports. Now, I’m after 12 h of work and a glass of martini and a coffee. – Dagmara Pęczak

: I bade farewell to my son, who went to Holland. I’m nervous a little bit, as there are bad conditions on the roads, so I took up cleaning. Now I’m waiting for a message from him. – Aleksandra Rudomin

: This day started really great, the sun was shining and I could feel up with positive energy. Today is Sunday, so I went to church first, and then I went for a walk, and then my family had dinner, which we ate together. After the dinner I paid a visit to a friend and now I’m going to have a fascinating evening as I have to prepare a paper for my Italian classes for tomorrow. – Anna Tankielun

: In the morning I was at work. I like my job. I got very cold when I was going back home, I was -12°C. I made pasta with vegetables for dinner. – Joanna Derek

: I managed to read the temperature after scraping off the flowers that the frost painted on the windowpanes. It was -12°C. I collected my computer from the service: they repaired it but they scratched the monitor with a screwdriver instead. The classes started at 16.oo. I’m coming back. It’s six p.m. It’s dark. A man is walking in the street. He carries a big rucksack. Maybe he’s going for a vacation in the mountains? [It was Tomek]. Let’s see… – Jakub Derek

: Today in the morning I ate my breakfast and went to school. I was bored during the lessons. I was painting at fine-arts class. I was going back home with Aga. – Aleksandra Derek

: The day began in a most usual way. The usual things to do at home, a morning walk with the dog. A very active day at work. Contacts with the Italian suppliers, with the main clients in Poland, the company’s enrolment in the Warsaw Fair. The most pleasant – as usual – was going home, the only such place on the Earth. – Krystyna Kalinowska

: Today I washed up and took breakfast. Then I dressed and went out. I went to school with a friend by car. The fourth lesson was maths, the subject that I like very much. I was doing written exercises on subtracting. – Julia Strużyńska

: I like dreaming, because dreams are beautiful, although seldom they come true. There is a grief then, that so many of them did not. However, it’s not worth living without them. – Edward Marcinek

: Today started very late mostly because of our coming back late form the theatre yesterday. It was worth! We had our breakfast at 12.oo… It’s slushy outside, so we’ll spend this Sunday afternoon talking and drinking hot tea. – Aleksandra Marcinek

: I woke up in bad mood as usually. I went to school a little sleepy. I had few classes. The last one was PE. We played volleyball and I gained only one point. After coming back home I watched Discovery Civilisation. Then I went for my English lesson and I had a semester test. – Adam Pawłowicz

: In the morning I was building a dollhouse with Adaś for my Barbie dolls. We played with duplo blocks. My friend and me watched fables on videocassette. – Kasia’s mother noted what her daughter was saying.

: For a couple of moths I’m busy with my daughter. Two-hour walk every day is a time for relax for little Michasia and me. We were in Oliwski Park and near the Water Forge. Then I went shopping at the market, we had dinner and I played with my daughter of course… – Ewa Szyszko

: We went to school as every day we met with friends, with whom it is always lots of fun. As usually it was terrifying to listen to the notes but everything was ok. Afeter school we ate a delicious dinner prepared by our mum. – Mateusz Zawadzki, Przemek Zawadzki.

: I went for a hockey match in the Olivia Hall today. In the evening I played scrabbles with my grandparents. – Karol Węska

: Profiting from it’s being Saturday, I slept today as long as to 8.30, which is much longer than usually. After the breakfast I went to wash my car from salt. Before dinner I managed at last to go for a half-an-hour walk at the seaside with my wife. On our way home we bought eggs and bananas. In the evening I was watching the ski-jumping competition in Zakopane. Małysz was third. – Roman Zerek

: I woke up at 9.oo and, sleepy, I hardly managed to get to the bathroom. I never eat breakfasts except for my glass of milk. Then I went for a 10.30 mass. I spent whole afternoon on geometry and essay for my Polish classes. – Sylwia Mederska

: I spent my day preparing for the exam session at the university. Ship power-station Professor announced the results of the exam. I was one of the few that passed, so I am proud of myself… – Jacek Kuzborski

: A visit to my sister’s work, polling her colleagues. Three hours in a library, collecting materials for my BA thesis on magic. Transfer of the collected information on paper when back at home. Reading: Fortune telling, cabal, tarot, numerology. Baking donuts with multi-fruit marmalade. A visit of my brother and family. – Małgorzata Machaj

: I got up at 9.15., cleaned up the flat. I did shopping and prepared dinner. At 12.30 a colleague called in. At 15.oo my whole family had dinner. After dinner I sat at my computer and wrote a letter to my friend from Germany. I watched „Teleexpres” and „Klan”, and then I took up reading newspapers. In the evening I made supper and we watched TV together. – B.Kocik

: In the morning I was waken up by my friend. He called before my alarm clock turned on. I spent whole day at work. A friend showed me my bonus for this month. I though I would fall from my chair. It’s worth working hard. My boss appreciated me. In the afternoon I went to a building society to settle the matter of my flat. I want to have my own NEST! – Sylwia Branczewska

: Today, that is Friday, January 24, 2003, I got up at 7.30. To be sincere, I wanted to get up earlier. The day passed quickly, and that is because I had a lot of work as I am a taxi-driver. – Jacek Labuda

: I got up at 10.20. I ate scrambled eggs. Then I was installing next exhibition: cleaning windowpanes, hanging up the boards… In the meantime I went to buy some food and something to drink. I met some old acquaintances. Just relax. – Wojtek Orlicz

: This Sunday, as all Sundays, I went for 8.30 mass. I spent the rest of the day relating the family the story of my father and grandchildren’s grandfather, homecoming prisoner in England during the World War 2. – Maria Labuda

: A usual day of a storekeeper and a lady to lodge a complaint to. Complaints, complaints…That’s my job. I’m curious to whom can I lodge a complaint about my life? I have to go for a walk with my dog… – Iwona………….

: Today I took care of my ill father-in-law. I made him a fire in the stove; I brought some carbon to feed into the fire. I supervised the workers who repair his bathroom. In the afternoon I took care of the children because my wife went to the university to check the results of an exam. – Piotr Niżyński

: I’m happy. I have just moved to a new flat and I have something mine only at last. The whole of it is only mine. I have lots of work due to that but it’s quite pleasant. – Iwona Borzym

: I had a happy day because I have seen my grandson. As usually, I had a lot of work in the afternoon. I did my whole family’s laundering. It’s a beautiful winter day. I fed coalmouses. I had an occasion to quarrel but I changed my mind. – Maria Zwolińska

: A holiday, a visit to my friend Krystyna for a coffee. Planning a rearrangement of furniture in the flat. – Teresa Paszek

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