Día de Los Muerto (Day of the Dead) is an important cultural celebration in Latin America, that originates from the indigenous people currently inhabiting the Mexico's state of Oaxaca. Many of the practices associated with the holiday are meant to guide the deceased back to the homes of the living and, once there, help them remember the sensations and experiences they had while they lived. For a few days - usually between October 30 and November 2, the living and the dead are reunited, which provides a reason to celebrate. Death was playing a crucial role in prehispanic beliefs in Mesoamerica, mainly due to Aztec influence. Nowadays, mixed with the catholic religion, Día de Muertos became a colorful fiesta, during which people are decorating their homes, putting outside altars made of flowers, alongside traditional Katrinas (female skeleton painted and dressed colorfully). The streets of towns and villages are filled with paper picado, sugar skulls, and marigold flowers. People put on their festive outfits, traditional make-ups, and get immersed in the vibrant atmosphere of numerous parades taking place all over the country. Although 2020's Dia de Muertos was celebrated in the shadow of the covid pandemic, some of the traditional customs remain present. In the series of photographs shot during Mexico's Day of the Dead 2020, I aimed to showcase the spirit of celebrity despite the restrictions.

Vlatos Jazz World Music Festival is a yearly series of concerts performed in the Vlatos Music Hall, a 150 year old building situated in the heart of South Cretan Mountains. Series of shots presented in a gallery was taken during the performance of Margarita Cox & Spiros Koutsorinakis.

Chania International Photo Festival is an annual event hold by the Blank Wall Gallery in a historic venue of the Great Arsenal, Crete, Greece. In 2020 despite the COVID-19 limitations, artworks of 304 artists from 77 countries were exhibited. In cooperation with photopress.gr, I've prepared the media cover of the 2020 edition of the CIP Festival.

During the outbreak of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) Malaysian government introduced the “Movement Control Order” (MCO) - set of extremely strict rules lasting for two months, which came down to detaining people in their own houses. Any activity that included getting outside of the living quarters was not allowed, with n only exception made for buying the essential items, which were precisely defined. Strict enforcement resulted in more than ten thousand people arrested for leaving their homes without reason that would be considered as “valid” for authorities. It also lead many business owners to bankruptcy and turned lively, vibrant and full of people metropolitan areas into literal ghost towns. Very occasionally, a single person may have been spotted, making their way back to the place they live (public transport, as well as taxi services, were suspended, as exceeding the 10 km radius of registered residency place was not allowed). The series of documentary shots was created to capture the essence of the “ghost town” atmosphere that took over the second-largest city in Malaysia, George Town, Penang.

Thaipusam is an annual religious festival celebrated worldwide in Tamil Hindu societies. It occurs on the day of the full moon during the Tamil month of Thai when the star Pusam is at its highest point. During the celebration, Hindu families make a pilgrimage to temples to offer Lord Murugan - the god of war and a son of Shiva - gifts as a thanksgiving for health and well-being. Additionally, they hope to trade with him to erase the negative traits of the character and other signs of physical weakness from their family tree. Personal sacrifices, expressed by wearing various piercings or hooks during the pilgrimage, are commonly recognized by the devotees as a special kind of gift offered Lord Murugan.

With series of photographs I aimed to capture the essence of Thaipusam 2020 in its details, such as traditional, colorful attires worn by women - as well as young girls - to highlight the dignity of a celebration, despite extremely demanding and physically exhausting nature of pilgrimage. Shots were taken on a way to Penang Waterfall Hill Temple, Malaysia, February 2020.

Series of photographs present people enthusiastically celebrating the upcoming Chinese New Year 2020: the Rat Year. I aimed to capture the spirit of the ceremony, where joy and happiness are mixed with hopes and dreams people have entering the New Year. The traditional way of celebrating CNY is practiced alongside the festival, as many people in Asia find showing respect to their ancestors by maintaining the historical ceremonies as a very important part of their lives. Therefore, starting with New Year’s Eve people gather in the temples illuminated with thousands of traditional, yellow, and red lanterns. Everybody is wearing red clothes, commonly believed to bring good luck and wealth for the next 365 days. They worship gods by bringing them offerings, lighting candles, and conducting certain rituals. Temple fair, an old practice of CNY customs includes cultural performances such as playing diabolo, traditional magic, puppet shows, firecrackers, and fireworks that can be observed during that time. Although many of the elements of celebration have a reference to history, the atmosphere of fun and enjoyment seems to be present in the air. At this very moment nobody is aware of the disease that is going to take over the world just a few weeks later. Therefore, let’s treat presented series of shots as the last celebration before COVID-19, where fears and worries could have been put aside and happiness fills people’s hearts, bringing a smile and laugh on their faces.

In the series of photographs, I aimed to document the artistic project conducted in the heart of the Wadi Rum desert, situated in the south part of Jordan. Although presented part focuses on the piano, the underlying idea consists of multiple instruments usage to compose music most uniquely, by exploiting the rare, uncommon features of the natural environment and combining them with the creative approach presented by artists.

Life was never easy for people living behind the Iron Curtain. Even 30 years after the official fall, many sights of its presence remain visible. During the trip through Eastern territories, I aimed to capture those characteristics. The existence of people living in the post-soviet areas is marked by the economic collapse of the CCCP empire. The major part of society remains extremely poor; with highly limited income sources, elevated unemployment rates, and low average salaries, most of the people cannot afford to satisfy their basic needs. Many regions still stay under the strong Russian influence, which is manifested in various ways, including the preference of using Russian over native languages or putting out Russian flags instead of national flags for celebrations. Also, the influence of the orthodox church is profound, which translates into internalizing the traditional approaches towards living into the society, with a tendency to create multigenerational rather than nuclear families as an example.

On the other hand, eastern Europe has developed rich and unique folk culture, the spectacle of all forms and styles, melodies and colors, tastes and sensations, that is worth to observe, but more importantly: to experience. Dance, sing and festive - that what life is about in the East, always accompanied by a solid dosage of booze, that is supposed to warm up hearts and cheer up people, making their hard lives at least bit more bearable.