Close to the ground, far from heaven

“The mayor bought the paraglider
He said he saw the cosmos
But the truth is,
that he just flew over our village” *

There are places in which most of us are usually not interested. If you want to get there you need to drive off the main road, you need to look behind the sound walls, slow down and calm down your thoughts. I have traveled across Polish province and has been visiting places, which seemed to be abandoned and empty because everyone left for work: to nearby fields, to a larger town or to work abroad. Life has a different rhythm there and time passes much slower than in the cities. These places come to life only during holidays, harvest time, festivals – when stars from a talent show or “popular” music band come to perform there.

Close to the ground, far from heaven is a story about people who value peace, tradition and their connection to their place. At the same time they dream to be someone else. They want their life to become more expressive and exciting and contemporary “big world” is shining and tempting them with its colors. I’ve tried to define the concept of homeland as a microcosm. Place which is so important for people who live there. Place which they want to change but at the same time they want to stay connected and keep alive their tradition.

* Part of a song by Łukasz “Lewy” Kalupa, amateur rapper and songwriter

Michal Adamski (1976) is photographer from Poznań, Poland. In 2015 he published a photobook I can’t get through the chaos, which was shortlisted in Polish Photobook Award on Fotofestiwal in Łodź and Encontros Da Imagen in Braga. He had solo exhibitions in Warsaw, Poznan, Bielsko-Biała, Pila and group exhibitions in Krakow, Warsaw, Berlin, Buenos Aires and Miami.