Photographer Piotrowska’s emotionally charged portraits instil a sense of beauty and discomfort – as demonstrated in her fashion story “Never is a Long Time” (below), capturing the defiant optimism of a Latvian rehab centre. Beneath the initial violence and instability that Piotrowska so artfully curates, there is a pervasive sense of union and security, as documented in her powerful publication Frowst, for which she took home the MACK First Book award.
What was your defining pop culture moment of 2014?
Joanna Piotrowska: I have never been interested in pop culture. Among other cultural events, I remember the Pierre Huyghe exhibition in the Centre Pompidou the most. I spent five hours there and when I was passing by the next day, I felt a strong urge to go again.
How would you sum up what you do in a sentence?
Joanna Piotrowska: I wouldn’t.
What’s your favourite song and movie of 2014?
Joanna Piotrowska: We Come as Friends directed by Hubert Sauper and Devendra Banhart’s “Für Hildegard von Bingen”.
How do you think style and pop culture will change in 2015?
Joanna Piotrowska: Changes in pop culture are never radical so I don’t expect any shocking revelations here.
What’s the most exciting thing about the music/film/fashion industry today?
Joanna Piotrowska: Fluidity of boundaries.
What new skill did you learn this year?
Joanna Piotrowska: How to make coconut milk myself.
Who’s an unsung cultural hero that you discovered this year?
Joanna Piotrowska: I only discovered those who had been discovered before by other people.
What’s the most surprising thing we’d find out if we looked at your phone?
Joanna Piotrowska: My iPhone screen isn’t broken yet.
Who should have been at number one on the Dazed 100?
Joanna Piotrowska: Pierre Huyghe.
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