‘Cut It Short’ by Michal Solarski and Tomasz Liboska

Photographers Michal Solarski and Tomasz Liboska revisit a small town in Poland to explore the transient experiences of adolescence and escapism.

Curatorial text by Clare Callaghan

‘Cut It Short’ by Michal Solarski and Tomasz Liboska

On the southern edge of Poland, a quiet town, home to four thousand people, has been revisited by artists Michal Solarski and Tomasz Liboska.
Reminiscing the inevitable transition between childhood and adulthood, Solarski and Liboska set out to reconstruct past events through documenting the lives of two young boys, twenty years on.
‘Cut It Short’ is an autobiographical series following the daily lives of two teenage boys, rebelling against their surroundings in a quest to understand themselves, before they are swiftly plunged into the depth of adulthood.

Exploring notions of sexuality and masculinity, the experiences Dominik and Marek share are those in which we all encounter while growing up. Feelings of longing and escapism are intertwined through impressions of first loves and uncomfortable interactions.
Foggy mornings and traces of journeys across snowy fields, gives the viewer a sense of the continuous adventures these boys encounter. The images are metaphorical narratives portraying the pilgrimage the boys are undertaking on their way to becoming men.

The connection Michal and Tomasz have created through this project; revisiting similar experiences twenty years later, conveys the universal struggle of adolescence.
The themes within this body of work extend past this small town in Poland, connecting with a wider audience through a display of quiet emotions and intimate encounters.
Transporting the viewer back to the uncertainty of teenage years, these photographs become a portal into a place in time, not so long ago.

See more of this work at michalsolarski.com

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