From Decayed to Dreamlike: Time Travel with a Camera

Allow us to take you on a journey through time, from once-glamorous, vibrant locations now lying abandoned, to almost dreamlike landscapes taken reclaimed by nature. Our tour guide is Remek Koluch, a passionate photographer originally from Olsztyn, Poland, now living in Glasgow.

Remek is also our latest Punch Maker & Breaker, and we’ve been absolutely captivated by the almost fairy tale-esque quality of his images, which beautifully contrast the derelict with the dreamlike.

With such an unusual photography style, we were fascinated to learn about the inspirations behind Remek’s work.

When a Lifelong Interest Met the Digital Revolution

Remek has always been interested in photography, ever since his father used to regularly send him to the local newsagent to buy film for his 35mm camera, letting him take a few photos in return for his errand.

His interest grew while studying chemistry at university in the early 1980s, where students had access to a darkroom, allowing Remek to experiment with finding his photography style.

Taking photos remained a keen interest when he started a family, but most of his images tended to be of loved ones.

However, with the rise of the digital revolution and the technical and artistic opportunities it presented, Remek’s taste evolved into the beautifully creative style his images have today. Above is a wonderful example of his mesmerising, almost magical style.

Remek explained: “Photography has always been close to me, but its role in my life has been changing and evolving slowly over all these years, becoming a more and more significant part of my life – I’d say it has now become an inseparable part of it.”

From Derelict to Dreamlike

Remek can often be found exploring Scotland with his Canon EOS 6D Mark II, typically venturing within 40km of his Glasgow home, where there are some stunning locations for him to photograph, from castles to beaches in his very own local wonderland – just look at those mystical colours.

He also pays frequent trips to his native Poland, taking images of derelict, abandoned buildings around the cities of Poznań and Gdańsk, including mansions, farmhouses, villas and industrial buildings, although he always wishes he had extra time to explore more of these fascinating sites.

Remek loves creating snapshots of worlds that he’d like to visit or live in, and he enjoys digitally altering contrasting structures and landscapes to feel the life that was there many years ago, capturing the passage of time.

“Seeing and being able to touch things that were seen and touched by inhabitants in the past is a magic experience for me – it’s almost like time travel,” he said.

The Magic is in the Editing

Remek adds the almost magical, bewitching quality to the images he takes by developing his raw files with RawTherapee, before highlighting the colours and unusual features of the abandoned buildings he loves to explore using software such as Gimp and Photomatix.

Creative editing is at the heart of Remek’s photography style, so it’s essential for him to have the best possible PC for processing his images without too much fuss. He came to Punch looking for a custom photography PC with a high amount of RAM, a fast CPU and an SSD.

Remek chose the Best Value Photography PC from Punch, which he says allows him to “do the photography I want to do”.

“My Punch PC has removed all technical worries regarding my work, which has enabled me to concentrate on what I really want to do – create places that exist only my imagination,” he added.

We’re thrilled that we can play a part in helping Remek to transport himself to these magical worlds that combine buildings of the past with nature of the present, but what does he have planned for the future?

Exhibition Plans

Following a successful first exhibition at the Culture House in Poznań in February 2019, Remek has two more exhibitions planned; begins in just a few weeks’ time on Friday 6^th September at the library in Ostróda, and another will take place at the Art Factory exhibition centre in Tczew in April 2021.

These exhibitions will give photography fans a chance to journey down the rabbit hole and into the amazing world Remek has identified within our own.

If you’re not fortunate enough to be in Poland at the time of one of Remek’s exhibitions, you can enjoy his work every day via his online galleries.

Inspired to have a go at editing your images in a similar style to Remek? Explore the photography PCs with the capacity to handle the latest editing software available from Punch here.