SAVE ON THE ENTRY FEES - EARLY BIRD DEADLINE: JUNE 7TH, 2026
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Honorable Mention / Portrait

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PIOTR ZWARYCZ

Deep in the dark
Deep in the dark
Deep in the dark
Deep in the dark
Deep in the dark
Deep in the dark
Deep in the dark
Deep in the dark
Deep in the dark
PIOTR ZWARYCZ
Deep in the dark

Miners - hard workers - covered with black dust, sweat, and dirt. This is dangerous and difficult everyday reality of coalmines in Silesia.
“Dirty work”, where a pickaxe and a spade are basic tools, the job that drains forces, in which the smallest mistake can end with a tragedy. They work in the shade of a cunning and unpredictable enemy - methane and also the risk of rock burst or collapse - with great humility for natural forces. Everything can happen under the ground.
Although the awareness of being almost one kilometre under the ground raises certain concern, many miners constitute the third generation that spend their life in coal dust, in dark networks of corridors, lit with headlamps, in difficult climatic conditions: temperature reaching over 30 degrees Celsius and high humidity.
This is the dirty, noisy and dangerous “mine” reality of a Silesian miner’s shift, however, it is also an exciting underground work of brave, strong, and responsible people.

Author
Piotr Zwarycz – photographer, documentary filmmaker. Winner and finalist of competitions, among others Grand Press Photo, Silesian Press Photography, Amundsen Photo Award, National Geographic Grand Photo Contest, Chromatic Awards, ND Photographer of The Year 2019. Author of many photo albums and documentary projects in Poland and abroad, including the mission of Polish firefighters in Sweden.

Website
www.obiektiv.com
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