University of Silesia in Katowice

Bus stops through the lens – photographic series

While waiting at the bus stop, we stare at our phones, listen to music, read books, talk to others, or just stand and do nothing. We don’t think about it, we just do it. However, for an outside observer, this mosaic of human behaviour can become a source of inspiration.

Wojciech Kukuczka, PhD, from the Faculty of Arts and Educational Science of the University of Silesia traveled around Poland in search of bus stops that were culturally and architecturally diverse. Katowice, Częstochowa, Wrocław, Wałbrzych, Międzybrodzie, Gdańsk, Warszawa, Terespol, Lublin, Kraków – from the photo and film material collected in each of these cities, Wojciech Kukuczka, PhD, created an artistic project on bus stops.

The photo series ‘Bus stops’ was based on the artist’s original method – continuous photography. The works – as drafts – were presented for the first time during the international photography festival FotoArtFestiwal in Bielsko-Biała.

The completed project was also presented as part of an individual exhibition at the gallery “Obserwacja” in Warsaw. The opening of the exhibition took place on 11 March 2022, and the works of Wojciech Kukuczka, PhD, could be presented until 25 March 2022.

Wojciech Kukuczka, PhD on his project

Bus stops are unique places. I admire their architecture, design, equipment, but above all, traces left by people. Traces of events taking place there, traces of wear, decay, vandalism or street creativity. All these features reveal a lot about the area and its culture. They also tell us a lot about the people living in this space.

I am also interested in the impact that bus stops have on passengers using their spaces. A bus stop impose certain behaviours and conventions, reduces humans to the role established for this place. It is a moment of stopping, a moment of breath, contemplation. This passive nature of the scene fascinates me. It is a stop on the way to a goal, a moment of suspension.

This moment of stillness, waiting, is expressed in passive persistence, barely noticeable movement on the verge of perception, but this stability hides many emotions. That is why I photograph my subjects without the most important feature of photography – freezing an image. I call this method continuous photography. On the one hand, the aesthetics of the works belong to the medium of photography. On the other hand, it is a film recording. So the moment of stopping occurs not on the negative frame, but in reality. The characters are in a loop. They wait motionless for communication. Will it occur though? Can it exist between them?