Firmly Pinch The Skin Together

In the series Firmly Pinch The Skin Together I cover the messy tactile nature of the human experience as seen through the lens of tension and pressure. The works show everyday moments of unease that manifest feelings of anxiety and compassion. Friends, family and other objects overflow the frame. Zoomed in, without any room to escape, flesh becomes both an artifact of the subject’s past as well as a vessel for the viewer’s projections. In the end, all that’s left is skin — bearing witness to everything we’ve ever known and endured.

Ela Polkowska (1977) is a Polish photographer who has a MA degree in Art History from the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland, and currently is a student of photography at the Institute of Creative Photography, Silesian University, Opava, Czech Republic. Her works are on view at the group exhibition Vallery of the Strange, which runs until 28 September at the ISSP Gallery.