"Night Birds" at the Opole Photography Festival

A selection from the series "Night Birds Come Home Late" was presented at the Institute of Creative Photography (Institut tvůrčí fotografie) exhibition during the Opole Photography Festival. Warm thanks to Vladimír Birgus for showing the works, and to the whole team that mounted this vast exhibition: Vladimír Birgus, Arkadiusz Gola, Michał Szalast, David Macháč, Miroslav Zeman and Lukáš Lamla. The series tells the story of people who, from Monday to Friday, live within the rigour of social roles — going to work or university, keeping face, holding their emotions in check. But when the weekend evening comes, the streets turn into a stage where all inhibitions fall away. Documenting this weekly ritual, I keep asking one essential question about their identity: in the chaos of the night, do they finally drop their everyday masks and become fully themselves? Or is the street just another stage, where they take on a new weekend role — the unbridled reveller? Exhibition photos: Maria Książek and Maks Skrzeczkowski.