Marek Samojeden: Winter Time In Poland

The start of the new year in many parts of the world usually entails the waning end of winter. Thus, landscapes are covered in the whites and grays of snow. The view from below may look mundane, but the view from above offers a refreshing taste of these snowy landscapes. These particular photographs show a bird's eye view of winter time in Poland as captured by Marek Samojeden.

Marek Samojeden is a commercial photographer who specializes in aerial photography. His images are mostly comprised of agricultural and natural landscapes of southern Poland. Over the last few months, his images have gone from a rich green hue to a more somber gray and white with the coming of winter.

This blog has already seen its share of great aerial photography, with the works of Alex Maclean, Bryan Solarski, Vincent Laforet and Yann Arthus-Bertrand being featured here. After a while, most aerial photography begin to look the same. Samojeden does something different by using the changing seasons to photograph old landscapes in a new way.

Samojeden transforms the ordinary into something special by going with mother nature instead of against her. Ordinarily, the coming of winter means fewer greenery and a more dull atmosphere for photographs. Samojeden uses that to his advantage to create beautiful winter wonderlands. His photographs are monotone, but still vibrant with life. His subjects are mundane, but his aerial perspective transforms them into something magical.

The addition of snow makes a huge impact as it ironically takes away content from the image, acting as the white canvas upon which man and nature can paint their lives upon. The snowy landscape thus becomes a blank canvas for the monochromatic paintings of everyday rural Polish life.

There are more winter time pictures of Poland on Marek Samojeden's website. Be sure to check this previous feature on Alex Maclean, Bryan Solarski, Vincent Laforet and Yann Arthus-Bertrand for more awesome images of aerial photography.