growing album
#personalproject

„Growing Album" is a photobook that allows you to plant your home" wherever you are. Made from self-handmade paper combined with seeds and filled with pictures from my homeland, Poland.

The seeds used, are the plants shown in the images. The paper itself carries a personal narrative, being made from old maps of my hometown and newspaper clippings carefully archived by my grandmother. The photographs in the book are often faded, reflecting the fleeting nature of memories. As a viewer, you are invited to plant the entire book and let your home" take root and grow wherever you are in the world.

The purpose of this project is to draw attention to the themes of migration and identity. It offers the possibility of carrying a piece of home" with you. This project transforms intangible memories into something tangible. One of my own memories is picking tomatoes in my grandmother's garden in Poland.

I've preserved the seeds of those tomatoes and paired them with an image of her garden, making this memory portable and rooted in a new, meaningful context. Planting the book allows you to relive such moments, creating a bridge between past and present. The ultimate goal is to enable individuals to carry a piece of their „home" wherever they go, fostering a deeper connection to heritage and environment.

The seeds in this project serve two purposes: As a preservation tool, embodying heritage and continuity.
As a metaphor for rooting, symbolizing the ability to grow (up) and thrive in new environments.

In this project, I explore innovative methods of presenting photography, aiming to give the medium a unique and tactile dimension. By blending materials, embedding seeds in the papermaking process, and employing transfer printing techniques, the photobook becomes a one-of-a-kind piece.

Through „Growing Album,“ I aim to highlight the significance of memory, migration, and rootedness in a way that is both personal and universally resonant.