With

The photo series “With” explores the relation between man and animal – seemingly more and more domesticated, tamed and taken over. Do the roles remain the same when faced with modern, urban lifestyle? The relation with the animal becomes a substitute for the old forms of community. “With” takes us into the most intimate interiors of a big city; bedrooms, living rooms, basements, shadows. The loneliness of the owners is further accentuated by the use of flash. Stysiak looks at them from the observer’s point of view; just like a peeping tom, she is not interacting with the photographed one. She stands behind a glass wall and isolates herself by using the medium of lens and darkness. The night becomes her ally in her attempt to see the inversion, distortion and show the multiple shapes of these sublimated relationship between nature and culture, animals and men. (from a text by Aleksandra Szymczyk)