A bit of prehistory

I liked taking pictures already as a teenager, with a simple camera on negatives I took portraits of my beloved horses between riding lessons and it was always me, who pictured whole class on school trips. I got my first serious camera from my grandmother, it was Practica BC1, made in East Germany in 1984. Grandmother probably had a good opportunity to buy a camera, no one in the family dealt with photography enough to have such an advanced camera for those times. Practica has served me well for many years, which is why I managed to pass two years in the Pho-Bos photographic study in Wroclaw thanks to her. Studying at school slightly discouraged me from the photographic environment in my city and made me stop believing that my photos might interest someone. I never aspired to be an artist. I care more about showing others places I have been to and I find it interesting enough to keep them in the pictures. I focus on accurate documentation of the places I visit.

The main photographic themes are architecture (with a strong focus on doors and windows, architectural details, abandoned places, churches, cemeteries), places worth visiting, horses, classic cars and widely understood nature – flora and fauna, landscapes.

My Equine Photography dream

Photography of horses was my great passion in 2004-2008. I visited studs, stables and a horse shelter in Poland with my camera and I took dozens of pictures of these beautiful creatures. My favourite black and white photos come from those times. They were taken with my second camera, Nikon F80, on photographic films that I developed at home. The combination of love for horses and photography resulted in a photography exhibition at the CK Zamek in Wroclaw, Poland in 2006. At the exhibition I presented black and white photographs taken in 2005, in Tara, the largest horse shelter in Poland.

10 years and
thousands of photos from Lesnica

In 2007 I was able to buy my first digital camera, Nikon D70s, and my adventure with documenting Lesnica, the place where I lived for 20 years, began. For 10 years I ran a blog about Lesnica, on which I placed daily photos of pre-war houses, the historical castle and park with Bystrzyca river, the water tower, the railway station building, the post office and a lot of more, where I tried to capture the unique atmosphere of this place. In 2008 my photographs were selected for a joint photography exhibition on the 80th anniversary of Lesnica joining to Wroclaw. Before World War II, Lesnica was a separate german town called Deutsch Lissa and only in 1928 did it become part of Breslau (called Wroclaw after WWII). My blog was awarded in the competition for the best blogs in Lower Silesia in 2012.

My photography exhibition: Unnoticed. Frames from Lesnica, that you don’t expect.

My biggest success related to running a blog about Lesnica was the unique photography exhibition in 2012, which was organized by CK Zamek. The exhibition lasted for 3 weeks, 34 large-format photographs hung in the gallery and another 150 was shown in the form of a slide show along with my original commentary recorded earlier. The blog about Lesnica still exists at: lissa.mizejewska.co.uk, but is no longer updated. The reason is simple, since the end of 2016 I have lived in the UK and I do not have new photographs related to Lesnica.


Instagram madness

In my new place of residence I continue my passion, but for the last three years I have focused more on mobile photography. The result is about 1,500 posts on my Instagram account @paula.zla Taking pictures with my phone is a kind of relaxation and fun for me, I edit these pics mercilessly.

New beginnings…

The poor quality of these photos and the limitations that the camera has in the phone make me return to SLR photography. Currently it is Nikon D90, a gift from a person who from the beginning supports my passion. On my blog you will find very different photos, from the oldest, made on photographic films, through newer galleries with photos of places I have visited in the UK. I can’t wait for visiting new places and for taking new photos for you!