MONIKA BRYK PHOTOJOURNALIST

MONIKA BRYK

PHOTOJOURNALIST

On the 5th of February 2020, the Marshal of the Sejm announced the election date, and election campaigns have started, although many candidates had conducted them unofficially much earlier. Meetings with the electorate had barely started when the Sars-Cov2 coronavirus epidemic suddenly broke out. It had paralyzed both social and political life for several months. As a result, election campaigns had to move to the virtual world for a while. The health service entered a crisis, there was a shortage of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment), financial resources and staff. The virus has also initiated a wave of protests due to political disinformation and economic problems. Fearing the continued increase in infection rates during traditional elections, they wanted to vote by correspondence across the country, which resulted in further divisions among citizens. In this situation, Andrzej Duda saw his chance, as he wanted the fastest elections when the polls were falling. However, most candidates were against this form of election. After numerous protests, the elections on May 10 did not take place, and therefore Elżbieta Witek had to set a new date. At that time, the Civil Platform changed its candidate Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska for Rafał Trzaskowski. Despite the constant risk of contracting the virus, on June 28th, citizens rushed to the polls en masse. This election saw one of the highest turnouts since 1989. In the second round, Poles could choose between Andrzej Duda and Rafał Trzaskowski. With a slight majority of votes, they re-nominated Andrzej Duda as the President of the Republic of Poland.

*The project consists of about 160 photos, on the website I present selected works.

"Elections 2020"

"From the cradle to the grave, one city — one club."

The Legia Warsaw football club founded in 1916, enjoyed a strong and organised fan movement since the Eighties. It was the first fan organisation of this kind. The legendary tribune of the stadium ("Żyleta", eng. “razor”) is the centre of fan life, a gathering spot for the most enthusiastic football fans of Warsaw and the surrounding area. Every match, it is a great spectacle for which all generations unite. As a fan movement it lives with a double sided opinion of hooligans and football lovers. The Legia Football Club and its fans played an important role in organising the rightist demonstrations in Warsaw about ten years ago. Since then, they try to counter the negative views by organising, or participating in, charitable activities, using the strength of their organisation in a positive way.

Legia Fanatics

Winter swimming is a method that renews among Poles, for a healthy life in a strong and beautiful body. The benefits of entering the icy water are very many and they are not just physical. During such baths our psyche also changes and the breaking of fear and internal barriers opens new ways of development. Collective swimming is safer, that's why "wales" merge into groups and creating a family atmosphere, organize occasional events, compete in sports competitions and go on trips. In Warsaw, there are several "walrus" clubs that meet regularly for jointly baths.

Walruses Club

"Wiosna" (eng. "Spring), is a political party created in February 2019 by Robert Biedroń, former president of the city of Słupsk, a member of the Polish Parliament (Sejm), the first openly gay person in the Polish Parliament. "The Spring" is a centre-left party with a social and liberal world view, promoting the European civilisation standards. The main postulates are: separation of the state and the church, taxing the church, extending women's rights, including the right to abortion, support for homosexual people, same sex marriages, ecology, improvement of health care. The party finds many followers among the young generation, more progressive and open minded than their opponents from political competition. As could be expected a particularly strong opposition comes from the far-right, who finds The Spring’s ideology particularly „controversial”.

"The Spring"

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