"My goal is to inspire people to look more carefully at the world around us, to discover the beauty, and understand the meaning in unusual places and situations."
This week Al Bawaba interviewed Ewelina Lepionko, who came from Poland to settle in Jordan along with her Jordanian husband. Ewelina is a culture and art enthusiast who utilizes every opportunity to reflect the beauty of the places she visits in photos she can share with everyone.
Who is Ewelina Lepionko?
It's easier to say who I am not. So maybe I will start with the obvious and I suppose the things that do not change. Ewelina Lepionko, a Pole who has been living in Jordan for almost 5 years. A journalist and culture worker by education and passion. In free time: photographer and traveler.
I'm still looking for a way to define myself. Word and photography help me. I frame everyday life in my own way. So, I’m writing... in a difficult way about the simple world. I do not like standard solutions. I am looking for a feeling of freedom, especially inside my head.
I get bored very quickly. I don't like going back to old places, I'm not repairing things. I do not have time for bad books or series. I can quit my job when it stops being a challenge for me. I leave the table when people start to serve gossips and reheated soup. I prefer to read newspapers for the rest of my life, drink black coffee and stare out the window without any sense.
Despite my madness, I am very well organized.
Why do you love photography and what does it mean to you?
Sometimes I think that photography chose me. I often have that when I look at something my brain selects a fragment, frames it, and tells me: ‘it would be a good photo!’
The first cameras are of course the ones with the film. In my drawer, I still have a photo of my first meeting with it. It was Christmas Eve. I don't remember how old I might have been then, maybe 4? My aunt came to us and said she wanted to take a picture of me. But I was scared! I don't know why, but I was afraid to sit in front of the camera by myself. I was afraid that the black box might steal this moment, my image, and my soul. So, I ended up surrounded by teddy bears and dolls in that photograph. I am laughing now that maybe it was the moment when this little girl understood the power of photography.
Anything objective sticks to the facts, but anything subjective has feelings. All my photos are my feelings. Photography is my comment on reality. It's a form of communication. It's a way to look deeper. The challenge is to see more and capture the unique self of daily life things. Some of my pictures are quite beautiful, others less so. My goal is to inspire people to look more carefully at the world around us, to discover the beauty, and understand the meaning in unusual places and situations.
Film or digital?
It would seem that the film is more real because it gives the impression of a non-perfect world. The film is good because it limits me. It makes me think before taking a picture because I always have a limited number of shots. It teaches responsibility, forces me to look for reasons for each photo.
But digital is easier. I don't think you can fight technology or pretend it doesn't exist. I am trying to combine both experiences. I must admit that exploring the knowledge about photography made me take way less photos with more attention.
What do you think of image processing, like photoshop?
This is a similar issue as with digital. Technology I am learning to live with. I think the trick is to use photo editing sensibly and openly. It is not a shame, that we all edit photos. As I mentioned before, all photos are showing my feelings. So, editing helps me show how I have seen and experienced that specific moment. Maybe the red color was more intense for me than it really was and the sun was much warmer then.
Photography is not objective. It starts at the very beginning when I'm making a decision to shoot. It's my choice what fragment of reality I will freeze in the photo, what to focus on and what to skip. So, believing in pictures should always be under control:)
What other forms of art are you passionate about?
Theater! It is a form of freeing my mind.
I am in love with the theater. All in all, it started late, in the second year of my university but it has remained so to this day.
I think I started with one of the most difficult forms - dance theater. In the beginning, it was not so easy to understand it, so I continued:) In Poland, I was very close to this art form. But not as an actor.
I worked in the Stary Theater in Lublin and co-organized many theater festivals. I was lucky to learn a lot from my professor from the University, who is also a theater director: Leszek Mądzik. His way of work and personality is a story for a separate article. He opened my mind, helped me understand how to look at the theater in a non-standard way.
Currently, I miss the smell of the stage, meetings with actors.
How many places have you visited and which one is closest to your heart?
Nowadays, I remember my travels with the sentiment of nostalgia. I got addicted when I had no money so I was hitchhiking. I packed my backpack and… I fell in love.
Now the duties of an adult life do not allow for spontaneous traveling into the unknown, but I am trying. So far, I have visited 38 countries. Most of them are European countries.
Where do I feel best? Wherever I feel like a foreigner. Maybe it's strange, but I like new places that I don't know anything about, where I have to open up to people in order to go further. I like simple places and honest people.
I like places that take me out of my comfort zone. Morocco and ex-Yugoslavia were a great experiences.
What is your favorite life quote?
There is always hope. Maybe that's why I tattooed my wrist with the girl with a balloon by Banksy.
What are your future aspirations?
One day I would like to fully focus on photography. I'd like to be brave enough to allow myself to tell people's stories from around the world through my photography.
I would like to feel that I am doing something important not only for myself, that I give the opportunity to speak to someone who for some reason has no right to speak.
It probably requires courage, luck, and of course hard work.
Are there things in common between Jordan and Poland?
People with passion!
People who inspire, open my eyes, motivate me to act, sometimes to change. People with good energy who see possibilities, not limitations. They are people who do not recognize borders; therefore, they are what the two countries have in common :)
Any parting words for our readers?
Don't be afraid to reach up for your dreams! It seems obvious .. although reality shows that it is easier said than done.
For more amazing photos like the ones here, you can follow Ewelina's Instagram page.
