Smoky Advertising for Elections in Poland

Political campaign. Suwalki, Poland. 2011

When I was studying in France and Switzerland, I quite often did car trips through Poland. So, since mid & late nineties, I (as a photographer) still feel like in love with the visual culture of outdoor advertising in this country. Usually advertising spaces in Poland do not happen to be singular. They are usually competing each other with shouty colours and scripts.

This November, while taking a drive via Poland, I was consuming the views of political advertising on the streets of towns and villages. Due to the demanding tempo of the trip, I did not produce any project about it, and jumped out only once for a quick picture. The feeling “I have to do it now” happened when driving throught the town of Suwalki. The billbroard promoting the candidate, Ms. Bozena Kaminska, was backed by  a white smoke, rising from a chimney, hidden behind the ad shield. This view made me rethink the concept of the outdoor media temperament of Poland, which I admired. It seemed to prove the existence of a far more subtle approach of advertising and its context. Things change…