Krzysztof Filla   Photo Gallery

Photograps 2022

Indians are the inhabitants of India who are very proud of their country and culture. The manifestation of their pride can be seen almost daily in the streets of the most populated country, which in the first part of 2023 surpassed China with the number of 1,425,775,850.
Arriving in the country, one can feel the particular pulsation of the bustling cities that sometimes can be overwhelming. Traveling independently is a challenge in itself. For example, buying a train ticket to popular destinations can take hours of waiting, filling out forms just to find out that there is no reservation available for the entire week. Some tourist places can be very tough for travelers, especially those of the Caucasian origin. There's no end of annoying and pushy folks of all ages, who want something from a tourist (usually money). The streets of many cities are full of crowds and intertwining traffic. The pollution is omnipresent along with very high level of decibels. All this together, combined with high temperatures, can be extremely tiresome for outsiders, however the locals seem indifferent to this environment.
The presented description may appear negative and frustrating; but there is another side of India that lures with a truly great and fascinating culture, mostly unspoiled by the Western influence. There are a lot of smiling and friendly people, who are willing to help. Their monuments, magnificent temples, religious rituals, colourful saris, mouthwatering foods, wafts of condiments and Indian music can stimulate our senses, imagination and perception. Having in mind all the emotions, now I think, that it is possible to dislike and love India at the same time. It is important to keep the balance. I invite you to look at my pictures of people and their lives through my photographic lens.
As for the pictures of nature, according to my rules, I always present pure nature, without any human interference. But this journey was not focused on nature, therefore I only have a handful of photographs and I bend the rules.

Photograps 2009

After a decade, I decided to return to India, to see its southern part. Except the British rule, historically, it had never been a part of present India, and it has its reflection in the natives mentality. Dravidians, it is how the people are described, for centuries wanted to emphasize its different identity in culture and language. Despite, the southerners worship the same pantheon of gods as the northerners, for an outsider it looks like a another religion. Their monumental and stupendous temples are a good example of this. Although many places in India haven't changed much for the last thousand years, nevertheless I could see some changes after the decade. Surely one of them is the sensation of growing population and the second, vanishing push bike rickshaws, which are replaced with loud, fume producing auto-rickshaws. In this gallery, except pictures from the south, there are photographs from the central India.

Photograps 1999

The journey to India was my first venture beyond border line of Europe. It was a challenge in itself before the era of Internet. I went to India by land through counties like Turkey, Iran and Pakistan. I spent there more than 3 months and over extended period of time India can be overwhelming. Some people say: “you can either hate or love the country” and I surely belong to the second group. Being a total novice in photography, I put for the first time positive films and after their development I fell in love with transparencies and photography became my hobby. And India with its colours, contrasts and diversity became an ideal object for pictures. Despite a few failures like faulty camera or a purchase of films for tungsten light out of my sheer ignorance, I invite you to see these pictures.