Marcin Ryczek
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
During the COVID-19 pandemic, polish photographer Marcin Ryczek took a series of photos in the Eastern Poland, near the Belarusian and Ukrainian borders, wherein old, traditional folk rituals are still cultivated, like meetings of the women from the village on daily prayers at roadside small chapels, blessing of yields and other rituals every May.
These habits are already disappearing in Poland and are cultivated only in some Polish rural areas.
Throughout his photography Marcin Ryczek is showing us these disappearing Polish rites that struggle to stay alive even during the pandemic, simultaneously considering all safety recommendations and restrictions, like masks or keeping a safe distance.
This creates an unparalleled view, combining traditions, folksiness and the wonderful landscapes of the Polish countryside, at the same time adhering to the reality of the COVID-19 pandemic.
POLAND | PHOTOGRAPHER
Marcin Ryczek photos have been published in newspapers around the world: The Guardian, Der Spiegel, La Repubblica, National Geographic and others. The Huffington Post has recognized one of his photos as one of the 5 best photos in the world in 2013. His photo “A man feeding swans in the snow” was admitted to the prestigious collection of the Bibliotheque Nationale de France.
In 2017, Marcin Ryczek’s photography was on the cover of the book 100 Great Street Photographs by David Gibson.
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Driving through almost empty border villages, forests and fields, I had the impression that time has stopped. Everything here is subject to the laws of nature. This nature delights and teems with life despite the coronavirus pandemic.
It also lets you forget about the media and the ubiquitous fear. Here I realized how important nature is to our psyche, not only during the pandemic, but also in everyday life...
Majówki
The gathering and singing of songs in honor of the Mother of God was already known in the East in the fifth century. However, the form of meetings and singing practiced at the wayside shrines of Mary, crosses, practiced to this day, was initiated in Poland in 1838 in Terespol, a town in the east of Poland near the border with Ukraine.
For me, these meetings have a unique character with other people, nature and spirituality. Meetings are without a priest, Pope or other clergyman, it is an activity solely due to their own needs, not dictated by any orders.
The black and white photos presented are historical photographs of Zofia Rydet from 1978. Zofia Rydet, a well-known Polish photographer, documented the life of the Polish countryside. (Source: Zofia Rydet)
The "Sociological Record" (that's what her collection of photographs is called) consists of about 20,000 photos taken in over a hundred cities. She began to create it at the age of 67. (Source: Zofia Rydet)
At one of the meetings shown in the pictures, one of the ladies said to me "It is very good that there are people like you, who photograph our habits to expose it, because it is unknown if the tradition will remain once we are gone".
On the meetings with these women during their prayers and singing at roadside chapels, I noticed that in some places the songs were written by hand on cards. Some of the records are old, probably passed down from generation to generation. Some songs cannot be found in books or on the Internet, so I decided to photograph many of them to preserve their content.
They are usually older people, young people often go to bigger cities to study or emigrate abroad to seek work. We talk about the nature that is ubiquitous here and is an integral part in their lives.
People live here in symbiosis with nature. This is manifested in everyday work, as well as in religious rites, where chapels are decorated with flowers along roads, houses, and fields. At which habitats pray for good weather and fertile yields. Nature is their greatest good.
When the conversation goes down about the coronavirus, it happened that they said: "Sir, I survived the Germans during World War II, later the Russians so the virus not scare me that much".
Participating several times in the place of prayers and women's ritual songs I was looking how great worship is given to the cross. It happened that the cross was symbolically kissed during rites.
Crosses are found here in many places, by fields, houses, in cemeteries. People worship crosses even in everyday life, just like the man from the photo who takes off his hat and bows riding a bicycle next to a cross.
People pray right to them in various intentions also for the cessation of the pandemic, often repeated fragment of the prayer is "save us God from sudden and unexpected death". Here, the cross is a symbol of suffering and on the other hand – symbol of hope and humility towards what will happen. I noticed that for people living in these sites this cross, faith in God, reduce somewhat the fear of coronavirus, disease or suffering. At the same time, in many places, habitants were trying to keep a proper distance of two meters and wear masks during religious rites.
In Eastern Poland there are many places shrouded by legends and stories of miracles that happened there; some of them are connected with stories that took place during the epidemics that hit Poland long ago.
What caught my attention was the constant appeal to nature in Orthodoxy. I passed trees growing near the Bug River, which marks the borders of 3 countries: Poland, Ukraine and Belorussia, on which various religious symbols were hung: crosses, rosaries, pictures with the likeness of Jesus or other saints.
Referring to the Orthodox traditions, I left some of my works in trees. I chose those that are sick, broken, or dead. These sick trees are a symbol of our times, the times of the pandemic and the fight against the virus. An reflection on the fact that our duty is to take care of nature and live in harmony with it.
These trees are also a symbolic reference to the slowly disappearing spiritual traditions, which I hope will survive in their beautiful rituals, wherein the spiritual beauty will be combined with the beauty of nature.