cry of an echo

For centuries and against all odds, Polandʼs Białowieża Forest withstood the barbarian human behaviour within its grounds. Yet back in 2016, under the pretence of its protection, the new Polish Environment Minister Jan Szyszko had approved a large-scale logging in the areas, which up until then had been excluded from all human intervention.

When so much is being said about the environment in recent years, and our exigent and much-overdue need to protect it, Europe’s last primeval forest was being slain for two years following the directive of those who ought to protect it. cry of an echo is my protest, my personal voice of opposition.

The project was shot during a month-long residency as a volunteer at the Białowieża National Park in Spring 2016. It comprises a total of 46 images that were intentionally mistreated by masking, chemical contamination, uneven development and bleaching. Originally conceived as a handmade artist book, in 2017 cry of an echo won the Unseen Dummy Award and the book was published by the Dutch publisher Lecturis in May 2018.

Małgorzata Stankiewicz (1986) is a Polish photographer living in Zurich, Switzerland. She has studied at the International Center of Photography in New York and the London College of Communication in London. She has had exhibitions in Poland, Switzerland, Germany, Denmark and elsewhere.