We Took Aerial Pictures Of Poland To Show That It’s A Very Modern, Interesting And Diverse Country (32 New Pics)

I love aerial photography for a few reasons. From above you can see more. It takes you to another world. You need a lot of concentration and imagination to shoot great photos, but also to analyze and understand them as a viewer. In the air, there are many things you can't predict, so you need to decide very quickly. One photograph taken from above can tell us about many things at once - a history of a place, its people, architecture, location. Also, the world from a bird's eye view seems much smaller.

In the last couple of years, we made aerial projects about Warsaw, the Silesia region, and the biggest Polish cities. But for us, it wasn't enough! 5 years ago we came up with the idea to publish a book about the whole of Poland seen from above. To fly above the places which are unique, important, or just beautiful. We wanted to capture modern Poland, but also show its historic context. We were looking for the places well known, the ones from the UNESCO Heritage list, or the beautiful and hidden places. Cities, national parks, rivers, lakes, castles, palaces, sea, mountains - places describing Poland. 

I like aviation, but still, it is photography that absorbs me the most. We live in times of Instagram, thinking everything has been already photographed and there is nothing we haven't seen. But then when you want to check how some places look like from the air, there aren't any photos of them! I always look for the best shot, interesting flight routes, to take photos not seen before. But it was very difficult to visit all the places, find planes and pilots nearby, coordinate it with weather to have the best light possible. Many times we were driving at night to the other end of Poland, to be there when the sun rises. We caught the light and learned. 

Our mission was to show and prove that Poland is a very modern, interesting, and diverse country. That it's our common good, and we have a fascinating heritage. That we, Poles, don't know many things about our country, and it is worth visiting for foreigners. That there is much more in Poland than politics, differences, or divisions. People like our photos because they take them to another world and make them change perspective - not only in looking at photos but looking at reality too. The book we published is the essence of Poland.

Photography from heights is my passion since I was 16 years old. At first I started from gaining access to rooftops of skyscrapers. I think I liked architecture photography because I was a shy teen, so buildings where easier to capture for me than people. Then the aerial photography appeared - including airplanes, helicopters, as well as drones (when photos from them achieved certain quality), sometimes even balloons. In the meantime I tried many different kinds of photography, from which concert photography is the one I liked the most. I finished studies as Director of Photography at Warsaw Film School, so working with image was always a part of my life, this way or another.

As for my wife, who is the second half of POLAND ON AIR team, she has a journalist background, which helps a lot in many ways now - f.e. when you think about the marketing or promotion.

What I like the most when taking aerial photos is getting the idea for a photo. When you're in the air, there are hundreds of things you can capture.

 But when you know what you see in the first place, or the photo was created before in my head, It's far more satisfying. As well as long-term projects, when I need very specific conditions - like waiting for the snow to fall, or the sun to set at certain angle. It's also very exciting to organise a photo flight no one did before - like when we were photographying when flying 3,5 km above Warsaw at night. Crazy idea!

But it's the selection and postproduction of photos which is the most time-consuming, so apparently also the most difficult part of the process for me. That's why I have to do it on a regular basis. You need to keep both feet on the ground, so you can sometimes float in the clouds.

Remember, that in 'Poland From The Sky' photobook there's only 1 photo from each place, while we shot much more images. I would like to publish a few more photobooks about different parts of Poland - Lower Silesia, Lesser Poland, Pomerania. For over 2 years I'm collecting new aerial photos from planes of Warsaw, Poland, in different seasons. In the same time I'm doing a huge research to find old aerial photos of Warsaw, some of them over 100 years old - to compare them with the present ones, and show the people behind them.

So you could say a lot of projects are going on, but they all need time to mature and get their final shape.