10th of April

On 10 April 2010 in tragic plane crash in Russia President of Poland Lech Kaczynski has died along with 95 other top government officials. By many it is considered to be the nation's worst disaster since World War Two. After the tragedy several hypothesis surfaced as of reasons of the crash, one of them even claims that the crash had been in fact political assassination plotted by both Russian and Polish government officials. The event resulted in huge polarisation of Polish society and it is believed to play prominent role in Polish politics for many years to come. Thousands of people gather in front of Presidential Palace in Warsaw each year. Some of them to commemorate the crash and to pay tribute to the victims, other to protest against politicizing the event. The photographs tell the story of the ordinary people of all age, different social layers, and coming from all kinds of backgrounds gathered in one place, one day each year. I had decided to focus on individuals in order to construct collective picture of the event. This way the project offers a glimpse into Polish society in untraditional and unexpected way.