Adrian Wojtas

Born 1st March 1996 (Nowy Sącz, Poland)
Website adrianwojtas.com

Adrian Wojtas is a photographer, art director, and filmmaker based in Ireland. He graduated with a BA (Hons) in Photography from IADT Dún Laoghaire in 2017.

Influenced by his bilingual and bicultural upbringing, much of his personal photographic work often deals with themes of ideology, culture, and identity. In his work, Adrian often makes use of carefully selected colour palettes which he utilizes in order to convey the tone and mood of the scene, and to elicit an emotional response in the viewer. In his social documentarian work, by highlighting often mundane daily life situations, he aims to present the viewer with a different view of reality. Seeking authenticity, he tries to give everyday things a new narrative.

Much of his practice is influenced by artist Olafur Eliasson for his immersive colour experience-based work, Sam Youkilis for his visually driven documentation of travel, and also Luigi Ghirri for his playful imagery in the liminal space between reality and fiction.

In 2017, Adrian moved towards filmmaking and has acted as director and cinematographer on two short films. Both films (a short film about filing / More Than This) explore themes of bureaucracy, memory, and isolation, and have received recognition at film festivals across Ireland and internationally.

He has recently been featured in and on the cover of The Photography Ideas Book, published by Tate, and his work has been widely featured both in exhibitions and film festivals throughout Europe. Most recently, he was selected as one of the winners of the 2020 Feature Shoot Emerging Photography Award among other awards. His photography work has been published in F-Stop Magazine, Colossal, Wired Italia and many others.

Publications

Photography books with contribution by Adrian Wojtas

2020, Chromantic: A Tribute to Alex Webb
2019, Tate: The Photography Ideas Book, Lorna Yabsley, London: Ilex Press, 9781781576663 ²

Awards and honours

2020, Honorable Mention, Chromantic, Trieste Photo Days, Italy
2020, 3rd Place – Conceptual, 10th Annual International Photography Competition, Florida Museum of Photographic Arts, Tampa, United States
2020, Shortlist – 190th Annual Exhibition, Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin, Ireland
2020, Winner, 2020 Feature Shoot Emerging Photography Awards, New York City, United States
2019, Shortlist – 162nd International Photography Exhibition, The Royal Photographic Society, Bristol, United Kingdom
2018, Winner – Best Experimental Film (‘More Than This’), Hyperfest International Student Film Festival, Bucharest, Romania
2018, Official Selection (‘More Than This’), River Film Festival, Padova, Italy
2017, Student Photographer of the Year, Irish Professional Photographers Association, Dublin, Ireland
2017, Official Selection (‘More Than This’), Ekran, Toronto Polish Film Festival, Toronto, Canada
2017, Official Selection (‘More Than This’), IndieCork Film Festival, Cork, Ireland
2017, Official Selection (‘More Than This’), Kerry Film Festival, Killarney, Ireland
2017, Official Selection (‘a short film about filing’), Early Bird International Student Film Festival, Sofia, Bulgaria
2017, Winner – Best Fiction Film (‘a short film about filing’), Student Cuts International Student Film Festival, Maribor, Slovenia
2017, Highly Commended (‘More Than This’), Inspirational Arts Photography Award, Dublin, Ireland
2017, Longlisted Artist (‘More Than This’), RDS Visual Arts Awards, Dublin, Ireland
2017, Official Selection (‘a short film about filing’), Berlin Student Film Festival, Berlin, Germany
2016, Nominee – Short Film of The Year (‘a short film about filing’), National Student Media Awards (SMEDIAS), Dublin, Ireland
2015, Highly Commended Finalist, Expressions, Longford Art Photography Portrait Competition & Exhibition, Longford, Ireland
2015, Finalist – Open Category, Irish Times Amateur Photographer of the Year Awards, Dublin, Ireland
2015, Student Photographer of the Year, National Photographic Awards, Irish Professional Photographers Association, Dublin, Ireland

Exhibitions

Group exhibitions

2020, 139th Annual Exhibition, Royal Ulster Academy of Arts, Belfast, United Kingdom (Group) 2020, Together Apart, Nomel Arts, New York, United States (Group)
2020, 10th Annual International Photography Competition, Florida Museum of Photographic Arts, Florida, USA (Group)
2020, 100 Views of Contemporary Ireland, The Library Project, Dublin, Ireland (Group)
2020, Feature Shoot Emerging Photography Awards, Aperture Gallery, New York, United States (Group)
2019, About Future, Millepiani, Rome, Italy (Group)
2019, Form 2019, Czong Institute for Contemporary Art, Gimpo-si, South Korea (Group)
2019, Interior, Planet Flow Gallery, Berlin, Germany (Group)
2018, One Year Revolv, Safehouse 1, London, United Kingdom (Group)
2018, Sights & Sounds: Ireland Today, Dupont Underground, Washington D.C., United States (Group) 2018, Peripheral Visions, PH21 Gallery, Budapest, Hungary (Group)
2017, RE:VIEW, The Complex, Dublin, Ireland (Group)
2017, SPARKS International Student Cuts, FASS Art Gallery, Sabancı University, Istanbul, Turkey (Group)
2017, Street Feasts, dlr LexIcon, Dún Laoghaire, Ireland (Group)
2017, Social Inclusion Week, County Hall, Dún Laoghaire, Ireland (Group)
2017, SURVEYOR, Solstice Arts Centre, Meath, Ireland (Group)
2017, Graduate Exhibition, IADT Dún Laoghaire, Dublin, Ireland (Group)
2016, Expressions, Backstage Theatre, Longford, Ireland (Group)
2015, Expressions, Cruthú Arts Festival, Longford, Ireland (Group)
2015, Ode to Crept, Steambox, Dublin, Ireland (Group)

Projects

Sonder (2015)
Sonder (noun) – The realization that every random passer-by is living a life as vivid and complex as your own – a life with all the same ambition, anxiety, passion and vibrance – and a life in which you may appear just once, if only for a moment.
Inspired by this definition, I created a series of images in the style of familiar snapshots, in which I play a background role in the everyday lives of strangers. ³