Ela Polkowska - Splinter ((Selected by Photometria Photobook 2026))

Splinter is a photographic book by Ela Polkowska that explores the lives of people living in constant disorder, both literally and metaphorically, and the sense of uneasiness their way of life evokes.
The story took place in a house that had turned into a kind of warehouse - a space packed with things, whether working or not. It seemed that the constant change gave meaning to that reality. Yet its inhabitants apparently refused to accept that only order is legitimate in today’s world.
Pictures documenting the house were taken in the course of a year. What had been changing during this time was not only the place being in the state of a perpetual transformation but also the feelings accompanying the process of documenting this world. A belief that everyone can live however they want, even in a completely disorganized space was followed by anxiety that this visual and material chaos would lead to a catastrophe. And yet both turned out to be real.

(Selected by Photometria Photobook 2026)