AERIAL photography was forbidden in communist-era Poland. Since the ban was lifted 17 years ago, Kacper Kowalski has been paragliding over the industrial heart of his homeland, taking photographs of its denuded yet eerily beautiful landscapes.
This picture, from the series Toxic Beauty, shows ash from a coal-fired power station in Turek. The opencast mine that feeds the station has been eating up 100 hectares of land a year since mining began in 1964. But two years from now, the landscape will start to change again as it is converted into a wind farm.
Kowalski鈥檚 images can be hard to interpret at first glance. From the air, chemical factories, gypsum heaps and lignite mines take on a new splendour. 鈥淲hen I show these photographs to people, I notice how their attitude towards them changes when they read the caption,鈥� says Kowalski. 鈥淔irst they say 鈥榖eautiful鈥� then, once they realise what they鈥檙e looking at, only 鈥榠ncredible鈥� or 鈥榰nbelievable鈥�.鈥�
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Even Kowalski is sometimes surprised by his images. 鈥淚 was planning to photograph the heavy industry with all the dirt and destruction it leaves behind, but I could see only these powerful structures and patterns that, in different circumstances, would be considered as unique landscapes.鈥�
He does not see himself as a campaigner, but says that seeing the impact humans have on the landscape be can a powerful motivation for change. One company even offered to buy the copyright of the photographs he had taken of their facility, to prevent them being published. 鈥淚 was surprised,鈥� Kowalski says, 鈥渂ecause the pictures were showing the beauty of their factory.鈥� Kowalski declined the offer.