I remember visiting Sromowce as a child, the memory remaining with me well into adult-hood. Like the nostalgic smell of a wood-burning stove at the end of a cold winter journey, this place lies beyond the reach of time in what it means and what it is. Traditions hold fast and neighbors know each other well, horses clop-clop up and down the roads in all the seasons, and a mist always greets you in the morning.
Last year I endeavored on the most meaningful project to date, FLISACY. This photo collection takes a direct approach to documenting some of the most meaningful living ancestors of my culture, and captures the nearly 1,000 Pieniny Highlanders who man the boats that ferry tourists 18 km down the historic Dunajec River Gorge.
The Flisacy exhibition, hosted by the historic Hotel nad Przełomem, brings together the photograph collection on the shores of the source of our culture, the River Dunajec. The set is a collection of images taken during Autumn of 2022 in combination with the result of many year’s worth of work, the Tableau of Flisaks. This Tableau is an organized document that brings together portraits of all of the living Flisak men. Once complete, the collection will bring together over a thousand men from five villages, the living representatives of the culture that continues to thrive in these beautiful mountains.
Please visit the Sromo House website for more information about the exhibition and to purchase any of the photographs.
