Hello beautiful creative people!
Sometimes to make a great connection, you only need to be in the right place at the right time. We were once lucky enough to be in the right place to meet Jakub, photographer and all-round good guy. And here he is!
Hello Jakub! Can you tell us who you are and what you do?
Hello Alex! All right, my name is Jakub Bachleda-Wala, people call me Jakub, and I introduce myself as Wala up in my various profiles. I am a photographer. I finished uni doing photography and documentary photography, and so most of my work is focussing around documenting people.
How long have you actually been doing that for?
So two years of college, three years of uni, but before that I was jamming around with my little camera, just going to parties or around school. I never thought about it as a form of expression, or a form of sending a message or presenting something. And then when I went to college and I met this wonderful teacher, David Williams, and he really inspired me to take it further and learn more about it instead of doing engineering!
Cool! So it’s something that started as a hobby, developed into a passion and now is something that you're pursuing?
100%. There is so much more to learn about that I still don't know!
And how is the demand for photography with all the restrictions that are in place?
Right at the moment, the restrictions in place is quite difficult. If I ever make any money from photography it's through events such as weddings or parties, ceremonies, nightclubs, and obviously this now is closed and restricted. So I’ve focussed on my other projects, and thinking about what I want to show people.
So you’re taking this time at the moment to pursue photography from your own artistic perspective as opposed to being told what to do?
Indeed, and I think you and me, like all people, we experience kind of isolation and a lot of negativity for what's been happening lately. And I think with photography, I can give a different perspective on it, use it as a time to bond with ones close to me. There are so many possibilities what we could do with this time!
This is actually our second time talking. Do you remember the first time we met?
Of course I do! It was a lovely random encounter - but nothing is random, right? It was in Greenwich Park, next to the observatory. You were sitting by your machine and asked me, I think for a lighter or a cigarette, I'm not quite sure...
I told you you needed a poem!
Yes! I have the poem hanging upstairs, and I still think to photograph certain events and surroundings to match it, but it never really comes across right…
Sometimes you can't force the inspiration, you have to wait for it to strike!
If you if you had one message that you could get to as many letterboxes as possible, what would that message be?
Cherish the things around you. Things that are close to you. People would say the grass is always greener on the other side and yes, we can scroll through Instagram and Facebook, then we can see all these beautiful images and stuff. But in the end, you wake up in the morning and all you see for the screen, it's not the same as going outside and seeing flowers bloom or little birds tweeting, you know what I mean?
It really keeps me going; finding the happiness in the little details.
That's a really great thing to say, and knowing that you're a photographer as well. You go one step further from enjoying those moments to capturing them.
Yes, and even on the micro level, going out with the micro lens and looking at how flowers bloom or the little drips of water are staying in the grass in the morning. It's so aesthetic and unbelievable, you can't really see it with the naked eye but when you come closer, and give a little thought it's is amazing, mesmerising in its own way.
Have you got any projects that you're currently working on at the moment that you're excited about?
Yes, I am very excited, yet there is nothing to show so far! I'm working with bonding, family bonding, friend bonding, I think that's what my next project will be about. It's something that I've been struggling with myself in the home and because I spend much more time around the house with my Mother, I remembered how far away we got from each other when I was living away for university, etc. When I came back, I noticed how we… learnt again to live together, and coexist and support each other. It has its ups and downs, and I would like to create a project that documents people going out for walks with their kids, with their partners, with their friends. I think that will be great.
You can get in touch with Jakub via Instagram (@wala_arts), or through his website www.walarts.co.uk. The full interview is on YouTube here!
