My first encounter with art was via the theatre ,while I was studying in the Wrocław Theatre Academy 1991 – 1995. From 1996 – 2002 I collaborated as an actress with Warsaw theatres like Dramatyczny, Narodowy, Scena Prezentacje and Na Woli. I was an actress but I was also present on the other side of the camera; in 1998 I was an assistant director in the Television Theatre “Enigmatic Variations” directed by Mariusz Front. I have also been co-author of screenplays and adaptations. Besides leading role, I was co-director of photography and co-author of screenplay in a movie called “Double Portrait” by Mariusz Front in 2001. I received an Actor’s award for “Double Portrait” at the Koszalin Film Festival in 2001. In 2001 I started to study in the Developing Countries Institute at the Warsaw University. During my 4-year film journey in Asia I started to make pictures and discovered that this form of expression is the closest to me. When I returned to Poland, I decided to learn more on the subject at the European Academy of Photography in Warsaw. The school taught me how to express myself better with photography; it encouraged me to start new projects and made me realize tthis was a good way to go . I got a lot benefits from workshops with such personalities as Alex Majoli, Tomek Sikora, Jan Grarup and Michael Ackerman. I now work as a freelance photographer.
Mela (Elżbieta Piekacz)
