All images by Paweł Franik. Used under a Creative Commons license.
Adding human subject as a foreground in vastly wide, breathtaking scenery often invites the feeling of loneliness in landscape photography. Pawel Franik explores these moments of loneliness in his award-winning minimalist phot series called, “On His Own.”
Franik intended to show a different perspective of the sad looking landscape photographs featuring a lonely human subject. He argued that having some alone time is crucial to allow our own thoughts to roam freely and have the chance to reflect on our lives. In the ever-changing, fast paced world we live in today, Franik emphasized the need to slow down or take a pause, and listen to our own inner voice to guide us through our lives. Therefore, he strives to translate the importance of being alone into his photo series.
Pure simplicity is what made “On His Own” outstanding. The series showcased a wide variety of landscape photographs taken at commonly encountered locations such as an open field, an urban setting with modern roads and buildings, or the ocean. The human subject was carefully placed within the framing, being so small in comparison to the breathtaking background to further emphasize the feeling of loneliness and, at times, being out of place. It certainly made me question why people were standing or walking in some of the unexpected locations as if they did not belong there and I believe this was Franik’s intention all along, for us to question ourselves: where we are and what we are doing in this world.
You may find more of Franik’s photography work here.
