Tropicale

• Prize
  Silver in Book/Fine Art
• Photographer
  Lukasz Gniadek
• Technical Info
  Japanese Binding, First Edition, Print Run: 200 Soft Cover, 160 Pages, 220 X 270 Mm
• Photo Date
  1892-1916, date of scans 2018

Tropicale references the classic style of botanical albums while playing with this convention. It uses Japanese binding to hide a second, parallel story in its inner pages. It invites us to reflect on the complicated relations between Europe and Orient on the interaction of cultures and civilisations. Botanical illustrations are in subtle dialogue with the inner layer of the book which hides a selection of photos and collages compiled at the turn of the XXth century by a priest W.M.Zaleski. The viewer is placed in the uncomfortable position where some of images and meanings remain inaccessible